Echos of the Descendant
by HungerWho37
Summary: I once got told that nothing bad would ever happen to me. I would be safe for the rest of my life with nothing to worry about. I would never have to fear for my life and I would never, ever, have to go through what my parents did. But I never believed it. I knew, some day, what my parents did in the past would come back to haunt me. And it did. And my family suffered.
1. Primrose Mellark

Echos of the Descendant

**A/N: Here's the first chapter, please read and review! SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE HUNGER GAMES BOOKS! Brief explantions of all three from Primrose. Reviwers get cyber hugs! Primrose's POV.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or it's characters. My mind is not that brilliant!**

Chapter One- Primrose Mellark

I stare at the faded pattern on the soles of my tattered plimsoles. I remember the many years I spent running through the forest with those shoes on. The leaves brushing my face and the branches snapping under my feet. I always use my mother's bow and arrows when I'm out. I never had as crack a shot as my mother had but I enjoy shooting the arrows at trees and, on occasion, accidently shooting a bird. I will be wearing those shoes later on in the square but, for now, I promised I'd meet Marice in the forest.

As I walk along the street I can see people perparing their children for the events to come. Mothers fixing their son's ties, fathers hugging their daughters, brothers and sisters of five to ten play fighting in the street, unaware of the upcoming I reach the fence I listen carefully to the newly put up chain link fence. As always there's a low humming sound, a sign that it is stacked with electricity, so I take a few steps back in search of the oak tree I always climb when the fence is electrofied. When I spot it I hurry over to it and run my hand over the rough tree bark until I snag my palm on a sharp point that sticks out from the rest. It never takes me long to climb the tree, since I have had six years of practice. The first time I tried to climb the tree, I was eleven. I climbed it fine, of course, as since I'm the oldest I'm the one who has to fix the leaks in the ceiling which includes climbing the side of the house and crawling along the roof to reach the source, but it was when I crawled to the end of the branch and leaped off I snagged my foot on the fence I got electrocuted. I was bedridden for two weeks until I got the feeling back in my foot. It took me a while to buck up the courage to try again but, after careful consideration, I had another go. Where I sprained my wrist. I kept practicing once I had recovered and finally landed on the other side without injury or harm to myself. I then started to meet Maurice there so we could be alone to talk about things that shouldn't be said in a high security district.

I see him now, sitting on the tree branch on the top of the hill, skinning a wild turkey. He has always had more of a knack for hunting and killing. I think he gets it off his father. The sun is pierceing through the trees and glints of his bronze hair. He looks so much like his dad. If you handed that boy a trident he would be the most lethal being in district 12. "Hey Prim," he grins. No-one ever calls me Prim, apart from Maurice, but only when we're out in the forest. "Hey Maurice," I grin back, pulling my bow and arrows out of the grass heap by the pond and loading it up. "Catch anything else?" Maurice shakes his head. "Just this," he sighs.

"How's the trident going?" I ask, shooting an arrow at a tree. Maurice sighs and takes a long, thick plank of wood out from behind him. The top is weakly cut out, in an attempt to make trident spikes. "Not very well."

"Do you want me to have a go?" I ask, pulling my trouser leg up, revealing the knife and strap I also keep attatched to my ankle.

"No, we've been through this. If my father could do it, I can too!" He drops the plank of wood again and continues skinning.

"Maurice, 1) your father was leathal at _killing_ people with a trident and 2) your not your father. Give it here," I snap. I unstrap my knife, take the wood and drop to the ground beside the trunk Maurice is sitting on. I don't know what he found so hard. I begin hacking at the wood, gently curving the end to make a handhold. "Got a nice outfit for today?" I ask as the wood shavings blow away in the wind. He doesn't answer. He's been furious the past couple of weeks over what's going to happen today. "Don't be like that," I sigh. "Please?" I look up at him and see the anger that is blaring in his eyes. The meat of the turkey is lying on the ground and he is just scraping off the bone now. "We have to deal with it whether we like it or not. You can be grumpy if you want to but I don't see the point in it."

"My dad died trying to stop this," Maurice says quietly.

"I know that," I say back. "My auntie did die trying too. I have family members who are currently suffering for it as well you know."

"I know that," Maurice says. "I just can't take the fact that we fought so hard to get rid of it and yet, one granddaughter of the president comes into power after twenty five years, and everyone just falls back into place. Down with the Capitol!" He shouts. I leap off the ground and whack my hand over his mouth. "Sssh!" I snap. I poke him with the end of the stick in which I have sharpened. "Why should I? No-one will us!" He says through my hand. His breath his warm but makes my hand sweat so I slowly take it away. "Just don't talk like that," I say, hacking another hunk of wood out of the plank.

"Tell me again," Maurice says, "Why didn't they make the games with the Captiol children?"

"Because it would just prove that we are no better than them. Even though it was voted to happen people finally saw the light and listened to the people who were against it," I say.

"Like your dad?" Maurice asks.

"My dad was right about it. If we shoved the Captiol children into a games it would have been against everything everyone fought and died for."

"And look what it's brought us," Maurice mumbles as he gathers up the meat. "Have you got your pouch?" he asks. I nod and hand him the pouch that I always keep tied round my waist. He splits the meat and drops my half in. "No, Maurice, you caught that yourself," I say, "I've still got some honeysuckle and dandelions at home that I can make soup with." Maurice shakes his head and passes the pouch back to me. "Have it. On me," he says. "Come on." He gets up and takes the plank of wood out of my hands and puts it back in it's place inside the trunk he was sitting on. I look at my bow and arrows and push them back under the grass heap. Maurice and I walk back to the fence in silence. I climb the creepers that are wrapped round the maple tree and help Maurice up beside me. He stays there for a moment and swings his legs to and fro. I place my hand on his shoulder and smile. "Don't worry about it. You won't get picked," I whisper. "Wear something pretty." I then leap over the fence and land on the ground, just remembering to bend my knees inches from the ground.

At home, my brother Gale is spinning round in circles waving an airplane made out of a match box in his hands. I catch him and whirl him round in many circles, which makes him laugh happily. Mum comes in and tells me to put him down before we fall over. When I do put him down he swirls a bit so I steady him. I take a look at my mother and smile. She is wearing a lovely black, knee-length gown that has small, silver, butterflies flying along the bottom rim. Her hair is tied in a messy bun but she still looks radiant. "You look lovely mum," I say.

"Thank you," she smiles, swiping a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Where's dad?" I ask. Mum looks from side and side and quietly tip toes over to the patio doors. She peers out from behind the curtains and shakes her head. "He's having a problem isn't he?" Mum presses her finger to her lips so I nod and repeat the gesture to Gale who nods happily and does the same. Mum slips outside and I leap over to the patio doors. I pull back the curtains a bit and look outside. I can only see the back of dad. He is sitting on a patio chair and is clutching the arms so hard that there's a vein sticking out of his hands. His blonde hair's askew and looks like it hasn't been brushed in a few days. Mum comes into view and crouches beside him. She's saying something inaudiable but I can tell by the gentle expression on her face she's trying to calm him. I'm never allowed to be around when dad goes into one of his states but I always observe from a distance. I wish I could find out what mum says to him that calms him so. She is currently stoking his hands, which is making him slowly loosen his grip on the chair. For some reason I feel a tear run down my cheek but I immediately wipe it away. Gale joins me by the window and says, "Is daddy upset because of the reaping?"

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The big event of today is the reaping. You may have heard of it but maybe you haven't. The reaping is an annual event where a boy and a girl is chosen for the Hunger Games as a reminder to the districts that the Captiol is in charge. There are twelve districts that surround the Capitol, who are in charge. There was once thirteen districts. Twice. But once the Hunger Games was reinstated a bomb was sent over to district 13 faster than you can blink as punishment for their role in the children chosen are forced to fight to the death until there is only one left, the victor. In the past there has been two rebellions against this. The first failed and the second succeeded. It was an empty victory though as, a few decades later a new Capitol leader came into power and reinstated the Hunger Games. I don't know why no-one protested as I have never really been interested in polictics but I do know that the new Capitol president is the granddaughter of the man who had invented the Hunger Games all those years ago.

Yes, that's why dad is upset. I would never in a million years tell Gale this though as he is only twelve and it would mean having to explain both mum and dad's past to him, which he is to young for. Mum told me two years ago, when I was fifteen. Before then I had thought mum's nightmares were brought on by a mental instability and dad's issues, which I still don't know the offical name for, was an effect of his illness called, "Hijacked." Mum approached me one day after my fifteenth birthday and explained everything.

On the occasion of the 74th annual Hunger Games, my mother's sister's, (a.k.a my auntie Primrose to whom I was named after), name was pulled out of the reaping ball when she was only twelve. Mum, who was sixteen at the time, volunteered to take her place to save her little sister's life. The boy who was chosen to join her was my dad. Apparently, the only time him and mum had interacted with each other before was when dad saved her life. You see, mum and her family were starving after my grandfather (my mum's dad) died and mum somehow ended outside outside dad's bakery scouring for rubbish. When she finally gave up she decided to die under some old apple tree outside the bakery by a pig pen. Dad purposely brunt some bread inside and threw it to mum. They never spoke but mum always thought she owed him after that. In the games mum and dad had to pretend to be in love to get sponsers. Half-way through the gamemakers annouced that two people can win if they're from the same district. When they found each other they both worked together and ended up winning the games. Only dad ended up getting a artificial leg due to a too severe injury that couldn't be healed.

I thought this would be the end to the shocking news that mum telling me but it wasn't. A year later, for the Quarter Quell which is basically the Hunger Games with a gruesome twist every 25 years, tributes had to be chosen from the exsisting pool of victors, i.e mum and dad. They were chosen to compete _again_ for the 75th annual Hunger Games. Maurice's dad, whose name was Finnick Odair, had also been chosen as the male tribute to represent district 4. Only those games never ended. Mum did something near the end, something she wouldn't tell me, that obliterated the arena, almost killing herself and the others. Haymitch, her mentor, and a bunch of rebels saved her and a handful of others, including Finnick, before they could be kidnapped by the Capitol. Leaving dad behind.

I always knew mum was hiding important details from me about both these games as her explainations were quick and weren't very solid. I never pushed the issue though as I could tell it was hard enough for her to relive the memories in the first place.

After that, mum discovered that she would have to become the mockingjay of the second rebellion. This meant she had to be the face of the war, if she had any hope of keeping dad alive. They did get dad back eventually with a girl from district 7 who helped save mum called Johanna Mason and Maurice's mum Annie, who had been kidnapped from the district to probe for information, but they had been tortured, bruised and for dad, hijacked. Hijacking someone means you tap into their brain and play with their memories, twisting everything into something completely different. In dad's case they twisted his memories of mum so she seemed like a threat that had to be disposed of. Immediately. It took a lot of work to convince him that this wasn't true and to help him rebuild his proper memories. That's why he still suffers these episodes when everything floods back to frighten him. The war was won eventually but it meant the deaths of Finnick and Primrose and many soliders and innocents. The man who invented the Hunger Games, President Snow, died when he choked on his own blood when he laughed too hard when mum killed President Coin of district 13 for being responisble for the death of Primrose instead of him at his excuetion. It had been considered to make a final Hunger Games for Capitol children but it never went into play due to money issues and the fact that that would make us in better than the Capitol anyway.

All this information had been a lot to take in but I understood. Especially when President Snow's grandaughter, Lynn, appeared out of the ashes and brought everything back. Mum gave me strict orders not to tell Gale any of this as he is only a little kid.

I had never thought to watch my parent's Hunger Games until I found a secret archive hidden at the back of our house at the Victor's Village. Their tapes were at the bottom right corner of the video cabinet, one a normal black tape colour with 74 carefully printed on it, and the other gold, indicating a Quarter Quell, with 75 written in glitter. I knew I couldn't watch it if mum and dad were home but, to my luck, dad was working at the newly built bakery, mum was volunteering to help rebuild the new mayor's home and Gale was at school. In the tapes were the small details my mum forgot to put it. I don't know whether it was to spare herself the pain, or to spare me shock.

Mum didn't tell me that dad had joined a pack of careers, who are basically children trained to kill for the games, to lead them away from her. She didn't tell me about her ally Rue, who was wonderful with plants and climbing, who was fatally injured by a boy in district 1 and who mum sang to until she died. She didn't tell me that, when she found dad after the rule change, he had been cut by a career and was near death if she hadn't of risked her life to get the medicine. She didn't say she had to drug dad just for him to let her go and even then it was only because he was unconcious. She failed to mention that the boy from Rue's district, whose name was Thresh, saved her life in return for looking after Rue until she died. She didn't say that after the final boy died, leaving only her and dad, they changed the rules back and that they had to kill each other for there to be only on victor. I watched mum pour some deadly berries called, 'Nightlock,' into dad's hand and they both attempted suicide until the gamemakers ordered them to stop and told them that they both could win. Apparently the whole 'Nightlock' situation was what caused the second rebellion and why mum became the leader. The district viewers saw what they did as an act of defiance and began uprisings which led to the rebellion.

As I took out the first tape and held the golden one in my hands I feared what I might find in this one that she didn't tell me about. I was right to worry to. Dad died. In the Quarter Quell, dad died. He would've stayed dead too if Finnick hadn't of brought him back to life with CPR. The tributes risked their lives to keep both my dad alive. I don't know why they were doing it and I can't ask mum or dad about it without them knowing I watched their games. Finnick saved dad numerous times. A woman called Mags killed herself so they could keep moving without her slowing them down. A morphling addict risked her life to save dad from some venimous monkeys. For repayment for what she did, dad spoke to her as she died. Dad has a knack for words you see. He could turn an army to his side with only one sentence. And that had always been his weapon. Johanna also brought two allies mum had wanted to them, Beetee and Wiress. Sadly Wiress was killed later on. When they went to put Beetee's plan of electrfying the salt lake into action everything just went crazy. Everyone got seperated, Johanna cut mum's arm, mum hid from Finnick, dad went off to find mum, and mum found an unconcious Beetee who was about to do something to the force field. Everything went nuts when mum shot an arrow into the force field that kept them inside the arena,obviously thinking that was what Beetee was about to do, and blew it up. The tape cut off after that. I think that's when everything went wild and the rebellion officially began.

Mum is now helping dad out of the chair so I quickly shoo Gale away and retreat into my bedroom. Mum has set an outfit out for me on my bed. It's the lovely yellow dress I seen her wear in her first victory interview after the games. I rub my thumb and fore finger between the silk fabric and sigh. Cinna, mum's Hunger Games stylist, probably designed this. I take a shower and slip the dress on. You have to dress your best for the reaping. As if it's a big celebration. Two white shoes with pink soles sit beside my tattered plimsoles. I didn't know mum had decided for me to wear them instead but I put them on anyway. Mum braids my blonde hair into a plait, just like hers used to be, and sticks something to my dress. I look at it and frown. It's a gold mockingjay pin. That makes no sense. I look at her but she just smiles at me before fixing Gale's tie. Dad sits on a chair by the kitchen counter and I tilt my head at the sight of him. Mum must have spent half an hour alone just trying to get his hair de-matted but it's now brushed straight. His blue eyes are fixated on something in the distance but I don't try to find out what. "Is he OK?" I whisper to mum as she leans in to put a necklace on me. She simply replys, "I don't know."

We have to be at the square for two o'clock so we set off at half one. When we arrive I say goodbye to mum and dad and take Gale to sign us both in. I place him in front of me in the line and keep my hands firmly placed on his shoulders as they prick his finger for DNA confirmation. It doesn't hurt that much when they prick my finger but my eyes swell a bit with tears as I worry for my brother. I show him to were he has to stand and go to my age group's spot and wait. As I gaze around my eyes meet Maurice's. He pretends to cut his throat and does a mock hanging motion that makes me smile. On stage, our new mayor, a slightly weathered Effie Trinket, and Haymitch Abernathy sit, waiting for two o'clock. When the clock strikes two exactly the mayor takes his place on stage and he begins a long speech about the Dark Days (what they called the first rebellion), then about the second rebellion and it's success. He then praises President Lynn for bringing back the Hunger Games and showing us we are nothing against the capitol. When he finishes, he sits down and Effie Trinket takes stage. She coughs slightly and then her voice booms across the square, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the Odds be ever in your Favour!" I feel a shiver run down my spine as I remember hearing her say that on mum and dad's tapes. She looks from side to side nervously and then says, "Since this is the first Hunger Games since the rebellion there is going to be a twist." I frown. But this isn't a Quarter Quell. Why is there a twist? The mayor hands Effie a small piece of card which she immediately reads from. "To celebrate the first female president of the Capitol, there will only be female tributes competeting this year?" She sounds as confused as everyone else. People begin to murmour in the crowd but I can't help feeling a bit relieved. I mean, Gale's safe. Right? Effie chucks the card into the crowd and sighs before sticking her hand deep into the reaping bowl full of pink cards. She finally pulls one out and rips the seal with her long, pink fingernail. She looks at the card and announces the name written on the card. Which is one name. One out of thousands. The one thing I had never considered.

The name is Primrose Mellark.

**A/N: So, that's it, please let me know what you think! I'll post the next chapter if I get a couple of reviews!**


	2. 2:Happy Hunger Games!

**A/N:OK I didn't feel that posting one chapter would be enough to get the ball rolling so here's chapter two! Most things are taken from the books but I few things are taken from the movie. Reviews get cyber hugs!**

Chapter Two-Happy Hunger Games

I collapsed. I must have as next thing I know I'm staring at the blue sky that's dotted with candyfloss clouds. A couple of girls are looming over me and two of them are helping me to my feet. I waver a bit when I'm standing up again but don't have much time to think about it as I'm swept to the stage by a couple of peacekeepers. They leave me at the steps and I carefully climb them, in danger of falling over on each one. I approach Effie, who is looking very grim but has a fake smile plastered to her face, and stand silently beside her. She starts to speak but I'm not listening. I'm too busy watching the couple at the back of the square. It's mum and dad. Dad's thrashing out and mum's trying to calm him down. She's practically dragging him away from the square by his neck as he fights back. Gale is following close behind them saying something I can't hear and pointing to me. Everyone in the crowd knows who I'am. Who my parents are and how they fought for their freedom. When Effie asks for an applause, they don't comply, but, in the very first row, a little red headed girl steps out of the crowd. I don't know who she is but she seems to know me. Either that or she knows Gale from school. She lifts her three middle fingers to her mouth and holds them out to me which is a district 12 salute. I suddenly feel choked. Why would this little girl do this for me? I don't know her and she doesn't know me. But then I catch a glimpse of her mother. She weaves through the crowd and swiftly lifts her daughter and carries her away. Giving a slaute like that can be considered as an act of defiance which can be punishable by death. It takes me a moment to place her but when I do I realize who she is. The girl must of gotten her red hair off someone else in the family as her mother's yellow hair falls down her back in a practical plait. It's Delly Cartwright. Delly was an old friend of my dad and has lived in District 12 all her life. Either she has been talking wonders about my family and I to her daughter or her daughter is such a good friend to Gale that she believes the wonderous stories Gale used to come up with as a toddler about me being a fairy sent to do good for all.

The national athemn plays as I see Delly come out at the back of the crowd. She lets her daughter go who immediately runs over to play with Gale. Delly quickly hurries over to my parents and has taken both of my dad's arms as mum fumbles in her purse for the vial of green liquid that she injects into him when things get too complicated to calm him down with. I just get a glimpse of her sticking it into his arm and see him slump to the ground as I'm ushered into a car and driven away.

In the old games, before the second rebellion, you were allowed to say goodbye to your loved ones before you left but that rule has obviously been revoked by President Lynn as I'm taken straight to the train station. There are cameras and reporters everywhere, taking pictures and asking questions.

_"How do you feel about going up against only female tributes?"_

_"Do you think you have a good chance due to your parents history?"_

_"Do you think the odds are really in your favour?"_

I don't answer any of these questions. I just get on the train, let them take their pictures, then go inside. For someone who hasn't spent their lives living in the Victor's Village, this train would have been extravagant, but, to me, it's netural. Effie leads me to my bedroom and tells me I can wear whatever I want and to make myself at home. Also that dinner will be in an hour. I'm just about to close the door when a Capitol attendant appears beside Effie and points to my leg. I frown and then look down. At first my dress obscures my view but when I pull it out of the way I see my knife is still strapped to my ankle. I smile weakly and unstrap it. I tilt it so the light bounces off the blade before I hand it and the strap over to the attendant. He nods and walks away. Effie shakes her head and as she walks away I vauguely hear her say, "Like mother like daughter." I pop my head round the door of the bathroom and see a small toilet, a shower and a sink. I take a quick shower and braid my hair back wet. I get changed and fold away my mother's yellow dress. I don't want to wear any of the fancy clothes they have packed away in the cabinet drawers but I settle for a black and bottle green shirt, brown cargo trousers and trainers. I just remember about the mockingjay pin as I'm about to leave. I still don't know why mum gave it to me. I've seen her wear it numerous times before but why give it to me? As a token? I'am allowed a token of my district. I guess she wanted this to be it. I quickly pin it onto my shirt and go into the dining car. Effie and Haymitch are already there. I take a seat across from them both and the three of us just stare at each other for a considerable amount of minutes. As bowls of soup are placed in front of us the shiny plates reflect my pin, making streaks of gold flash across Effie's face. Haymitch smiles. "Your mother give you that?" he asks. I silently nod. He laughs and takes a swig of the vodka bottle he has sitting by his side. "Thought she would." For some reason his laughter goes through me. Filling me with anger. "Shouldn't you be retired by now? Shouldn't my parents be doing this?" I ask snidely. I don't want my parents to have to mentor me for the games but it was the only thing I can come up with. He just laughs again. "Your dad was deemed mentally unfit for the job and your mum was ruled out due to the part she played in the rebellion." I stare at my reflection through the watery, green soup. "Will they be OK do you think? I saw dad take a fit and mum had to sedate him," I say. Haymitch thinks about this for a while so Effie fills in the silence. "I'm sure they'll be fine sweetie," she says.

"And Gale?" I ask.

"He'll understand when he's older," Haymitch puts in.

The food is so rich I can only eat half of each course. Even though I live in the Victor's Village, we ran out of food when I was five and we haven't gotten a fresh supply since. Maurice has always given me half of what he catches and half of what he swaps at the black market which I share with my family. As a plate of apple pie and fresh cream is put in front of me I hear Effie say something to Haymitch that sticks out in my brain.

"There's a boy tribute?" I ask. Effie turns to look at me as if just remembering I'm there. She nods. "Yes." I pick up my desert spoon and flick the cream round my plate a bit before realizing what this means. "Hold on, I thought it was girls only!" I exclaim.

"It is but in district 10 an eleven year old girl was chosen. A boy of about your age, who we can only assume is her brother, protested and begged to go in her place. This caused a lot of trouble and confusion but after a quick call to President Lynn, it was said to be OK. Just this once. I think Lynn thinks it'll kick up some drama for the games," Effie explains.

As we watch the recap of the reapings, only a few people stick out. All the careers from 1, 2 and 4 stick in my brain. For 1 there's a girl with wavy black hair called Nana who's quite tall but has a slight frame, an average height girl with light brown hair for 2 called Waness and a strong looking girl with yellow hair with sea blue streaks for 4 called Jamica. Other people who stuck out are a small girl from 7, who seems so fragile that if you tapped her she'd shatter to pieces, and a girl about my height from district 9. Also, of course, the boy from 10, who's called Zeb. When it came to his district and the twist was announced you could see many of the boys in the crowd relax but his face went white as a sheet. When the little girl's name was called he immediately bolted to the front of the crowd and began pleading for all he was worth to take her place. The little girl was standing beside him as the call to Lynn was made. When it was confirmed that it would OK she broke down and refused to let go of Zeb's leg until a peacekeeper carried her away and gave her to her parents. Just like my auntie Primrose all those years ago. The commentators pointed this out too and said about how it was such a weird thing to happen. I feel like sticking my tongue out at them but decide against it. Besides, I respect Zeb for what he's done.

I'm unprepared to see my district but I can't turn it off as the reaping is compulsery viewing. When my name is called you can just see me fall to the ground which makes the commentators laugh. As I stand on the stage beside Effie one of the commentators says something I had never thought about before. _"She looks so much like her father."_ Sure I have his blonde hair but I have my mum's grey eyes so I always thought I was evened between them. Obviously not to them. After district 12 is shown it's supposed to show the seal of Panem, then the anthem then it should be over but once I'm up on stage they cut to something that looks like hidden camera footage. I see Delly run by and whoever had the camera sticks it onto her jacket as she puts her daughter down onto the ground. They then show my mother drugging dad as he lashes out and both of them carrying him off. The commentators are tutting and saying what a shame it is that my dad, or 'Peeta' as they call him by his first name, can't keep a sound mind for more than an hour now. That's when I really lose it. That's not fair. Dad can keep a sound mind for way more than an hour. His episodes only happen once or twice a week. It was just the return of the Hunger Games that set him off on one. I pick the remote off the sofa and chuck it at the screen. The screen cracks and immediate electricity sparks fly from it. Effie is about to say something when I interuppt. "Happy Hunger Games!" I spit at her and leave to lock myself in my bedroom.

When I arrive at my bedroom I see a woman cleaning up. I can't see her face, I can only see her red hair which hangs by her shoulders. She has a stamp on her upper arm saying, "Avox." I learnt about avoxes at school. They are people who had betrayed the Capitol before the Dark Days of both rebellions. Tratiors were either killed, tortured or forced to work for them. Those forced to work for them were called an avox. They're tongues are cut out so that they can't speak ever again and are set to work whether they're sick, injured or dying. I have always felt bad for those forced to be an avox so I don't use my rage against this one who seems to be getting ready for some sort of injury she thinks I'm going to cause her. If someone from the Capitol is angry they sometimes beat up their avox to make themselves feel better. I don't hit her though. I close my door and begin speaking in sign launguage. My mum taught it to me in her spare time. I never knew why she had learnt to do it. I do now. I ask her with my hands, "Do you need any help?" She immediately brightens at the fact that she has a way to speak to me and shakes her head swiftly. She makes some gestures herself that takes me a moment to decipher. She says, "No, thank you, I'm fine." I nod and sit down on my bed. She folds up a blanket and says to me with her hands, "My sister worked on the train your mother was on for both her games. She was killed soon after." I don't know what to say. I just mouth, "I'm sorry." She shakes her head to tell me that I don't have to be but, before she leaves, she says, "My sister died in vain during what you call, 'The rebellion.' Please don't let yourself die in vain." Then she's gone.

How can I not die in vain? There's no way I'm surviving. No possible way at all. Maybe I can make my death dignified. Not getting killed off at the bloodbath at the Cornucopia at the beginning is a start. I think of all possible ways I can die in dignity until I realize I should be taking things one step at a time so I consider the events of tomorrow. We arrive at the Capitol tomorrow and my stylists will make me presentable for the offical tribute chariot ride to the training center where we will stay to train until the games. Mum has always told me to never argue with whoever is in charge of how you look. I guess in this case it's my stylists I can't argue with. I fall into a dreamless sleep to which I wish I would never wake from.

**A/N: Not much of a cliffhanger but there are definetly some to come! Please review! :)**


	3. The fire, the sugar and the Nightmares

**A/N:Here's chapter three. Mentions of Primrose's past at the end that some people might find upsetting. Reviewers get cyber hugs!**

Chapter Three-The fire, the sugar and the nightmares

I wince as the last wax strip is pulled off my legs. The sound of the rip is unbearable but I do my best not to protest. My pep team, Pokla, Catie, and Asiena have been working on me for three hours now and have removed every visible hair from my body, leaving my skin burning like fire. Nobody's stylist wants to see them until their tribute's flaws are all fixed. When they order me into a bath of thick blue liquid I think it can't get any worse but I couldn't be more wrong. I get at least three other baths in the thick stuff of various colors before Asiena produces a Lemon coloured pill from a pouch on her hip. "What's that?" I ask as Catie drapes a robe over my shoulders after the third bath. Asiena holds the pill up to the space between my eyes so that they cross over. "Have you had your period this month?" she asks. I frown. "Excuse me?" Where did that come from? I'd normally come out with something along the lines of 'Whaa?'

"Have you had your period this month?" she repeats.

"No," I say cautiously. "Why?"

"Take this," she presses the pill into my hand and gives me a glass of water. "It'll suspend your egg count and keep them glued into place until the end of the games."

From what I have seen of the shiny, rainbow coloured Capitol, I could tell they were more high tech and more furturistc than the rest of Panem. They have different remedies for everything. Those thick liquid baths were genteically inhanced to make skin clear of spots and blemishes, making my skin look unscaved and flawless. I could understand why they wanted this for the games but are they really going as far as suspending my period? That's bit far is it not?

I chuck the pill into my mouth anyway and take a giant gulp of water. I feel it slid down my throat and drop deep into my stomach. Polka then coats me in a cream that prevents my hairs from growing back too early. When they finally decide that I'm acceptable enough for my stylist they leave me alone in the room. I begin to fear that nobody is ever going to come back but as panic begins to set in the door clicks open and a man comes in. He has black hair and grey eyes that match mine. He has a length of measureing tape hanging round his neck and has a pair of glasses perched on his nose. "Hello, Primrose," he says, "I'm Daminen and I'll be your stylist for the games." I shake his held out hand and nod. "Pleased to meet you Daminen," I say. He takes a strand of my wet hair and rubs it between his fingers as if it was a piece of fabric, his face srunched up in deep thought. "Come with me," he finally says. I nod again and follow him into a room to the right. He sits on a green armchair and I sit across from him on a pink sofa. He presses a red button with a picture of a fork on it and a cheese platter appears on the coffee table that seperates us. I stare at this in disbelief. It appeared out of nowhere as if by magic. Back home, if my family or myself wanted some bread we had to make it from the wild yeast that grows in the forest. Even then it was flat and unappealing but you ate it anyway let alone making cheese appear out of nowhere. Daminen notices my disbelief and says, "We must seem so greedy to you." I shrug and say, "Don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry this has happened to you," Daminen says.

I think for a moment. "So your here to make me look pretty?" Daminen smiles. "A wise man once said, 'I'm not here to make you look pretty, I'm here to help you make an impression.'" he says.

"Who said that then?" I ask.

"My fashion mentor. He went by the name of Cinna," Daminen explains. I feel a pang deep inside me. Cinna. My mum's stylist. He risked his life to help the rebellion by making my mum's Quarter Quell interview dress turn into that of a bird. I can't remember which bird it was but it had a big impact on the Capitol and districts considering an uprising. This all resulted in his death in interogation as punishment. I want to burst into tears but I don't. I just ask, "So have you got an idea for my outfit?"

"I don't want to give to much away but I don't want to fall back into the usual coal miners clothes. I don't think Cinna would want that." Every tribute's outfit has to represent their district. In my case, coal mining.

I nod as I understand. After we share the cheese platter he begins to work on my hair. He plaits my hair the way it was as he had told me earlier that he quite liked it and ties it round into a bun. He doesn't overexaggerate my make-up to my relief. He asks me to close my eyes as he puts my outfit on. I feel the soft silk fabric brush my skin as I step into the trousers and hold my arms up for the shirt. I feel him put something on my head and pin something to the shirt. I ask if I can open my eyes and he says yes.

My outfit is breathtaking. The shirt's sleeves drape down to my knees and the ends are made of red, yellow and orange silk strips to represent flames. The rest of the shirt is black to indicate coal and my trousers match with the same red, yellow and orange silk at the bottom of the them. I have a headress on my head that is made up of red crystals the size of rocks so it looks like burning coal. Then my pin is stuck to shirt and helps the fire effect.

"Daminen, it's beautiful," I whisper. I see him smile in the mirror and he says, "You can follow in your mother's footsteps. Girl on fire mark two." I give a small laugh and give him a hug before I have to leave.

Effie escorts me to the bottom of the remake center where all the chariots sit. I can tell she's still upset about last night but I'm not in the mood to apologize. All the careers are chatting to each other but the other tributes are glued to their chariots and don't bother to try to speak to each other. I find my jet black chariot and carefully stroke the horse's mane. Something catches my eye as a horse attentdant lets me take a couple of sugar cubes to feed the horses with. It's the boy from district 10, Zeb. He's sitting on the floor of his district's chariot, dressed in what has to be the most ridiculous cow costume I've ever seen before in my life. I guess that's what comes with being from the livestock district. I feel bad for him. I mean, that guy's honour rule still applies of never hitting a girl, and yet this poor guy has to try to kill eleven? I mean how hard is that going to be? I pop a sugar cube into my mouth and go over to the chariot. I'm not the type who can make friends fast and half the time I don't even know how to begin a conversation with a complete stranger but the bitterness of this boy draws me towards him. I hate seeing people lonely or upset as it just reminds me of dad during some of his episodes, when he thinks there's no-one there for him and he's all by himself. "Nice outfit," I say, holding out my handful of sugar cubes to him. I'm beginning to remind myself of Maurice's dad. Annie always told us about Finnick's love of sugar and the rush it gave him. Zeb looks up at me and he looks completely confused at this kind gesture. He plucks a cube from my hand and pops it into his mouth and nods gratefully. "You OK?" I ask. His cheeks suck inwards as he sucks the cube and then puff back out again. "Not sure," he replys.

"This is difficult for all of us," I admit, "But it must be difficult x40 for you." I pause for a moment. "Was that little girl your sister?"

"Yes," Zeb replys sadly. "Her name's Carrie." I nod and say, "I just want to let you know that I respect you for taking her place like my mum did for her sister. I just hope to god it won't be you and me at the end because all I can see is Carrie's face as she was pulled away from you and I don't want to have to cause that for the rest of her life." I throw another sugar cube into my mouth and sigh in irritation. Zeb smiles. "Thank you," he says.

"No problem," I grin.

"You really think this costume is OK?" he asks as if he doesn't believe me.

"Oh yeah, it's lovely," I say sarcastically. By the look on his face I can tell he thinks I'm either mad or I have no sense of style. "You heard of sarcasm?" I ask.

"What?"

"Never mind."

I shake my head and go back to my carriage as the first ones begin to go outside. Daminen isn't there like the other stylists but I decide to just be above the others and ignore them as I know they want to see me die. As my chariot begins to move I feel the strips of coloured fabric at the ends of my sleeves begin to billow behind me in the wind. The crowd give the same reactions to every single district that they normally do and I'm no exception. I don't make the splash that my mum and dad made on their first chariot ride but I couldn't care less. I honestly couldn't. President Lynn makes a speech and then we're all taken into the training center. It's sickening how these people can cheer and clap for us and know that we're going to our death. I bet they're already betting odds on us all even though we haven't even got our training scores. I hop off my chariot and I'm met by Effie who leads me to the elevator which shoots up to the 12th floor. I catch a glimpse of the girl from district 7 as we go up. She's sitting with her arms folded across her chest as her stylist babbles on about something to her. How old would she be? 12, 13? Too young to be taking part in this. I wonder if she had anyone in her family to stand up for her but didn't? It's really a disgrace.

The apartment isn't much different to the train. Very fancy and posh. I feel if I touch something I'll make it dirty. I'm just about to go into my room when I hear Effie brustling around behind me and I'm suddenly awash with guilt. I guess it wasn't really her fault that they recorded my dad's fit. Actually there's no I guess about it. It wasn't her fault. I spin on my heel to face her again. "Effie I'm really sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to get angry it's just-"

"I know Primrose, I know," she says, "Your father is a brilliant man and they had no call to record him. All of Panem knows the Captiol hijacked him anyway so I doubt they'll blame him for what happened. If anything, they'll blame the Capitol for it." I nod and go off to find my room. When I do I throw myself onto the silk covers of my bed and stare at the ceiling. I'm suddenly feeling very sick. I think I ate too many sugar cubes. When I'm called for dinner I tell them that I don't feel well and they can go on without me. I think Daminen stays in the apartment too with Haymitch and Effie. I end up falling asleep in my costume ontop of my bed.

I see my life pan out in my sleep as if it's a dream. Starting from the very beginning.

_"I'm pregnant!" Mum says to dad almost nervously as she stares at the preganacy test._

_"Your pregnant? We're having a baby?" Dad exclaims, picking mum up and whirling her round in circles._

_"It's a baby girl?" Mum asks the nurse, tears welling up in her eyes._

_"Yes, , it's a baby girl," the nurse confirms, handing her the small bundle wrapped up in a pink blanket._

_"What will we call her?" Mum asks as she coos at the baby._

_"Primrose," Dad answers almost immediately. "Primrose Mellark."_

_"Come on Primrose, it's not that hard, all you have to do it keep pedaling," Dad encourages as a pregnant mum holds a video camera up, ready to record my first bicycle ride without training wheels._

_"Are you sure I won't fall?" I ask, sitting on the bike seat with my feet on the ground._

_"If you do, I'll catch you," Dad smiles. I smile back at him and push forward. I panic as I wobble a bit but I keep going. "Dad! I'm doing it! I'm doing it Look mum I'm doing it!"_

_"We're proud of you honey!" Mum calls. I turn back to look at them and grin._

_"What's his name dad?" I ask._

_"His name, Primrose, is Gale," Dad replies. The baby in the incubator is so small and fragile it looks like a doll. "And he's your brother."_

_"My brother? Wasn't my brother supposed to arrive in august?" I ask. "It's only May."_

_"Yes, well, he came early. Isn't that lovely?" Dad's smile looks a bit put on._

_"Oh, that's cool. He's perfect, I love him already," I grin._

_"Gale, look, it's simple, all you have to do is keep peadling," I say._

_"Primrose, I'm scared," Gale whines. "I'm gonna fall."_

_"No you won't and if you do, I'll be there to catch you," I encourage. Gale hesitates then pushes off on the bike. He keeps going and going like I did. "Look Primrose! I did it!"_

_"Proud of you Gale!" I call back to him. When he comes back to me he stops and grins. "Are you a fairy Primrose?" he asks._

_"Why would I be a fairy?" I ask him._

_"Because you just taught me how to ride a bike! I was told I was never going to be able to ride a bike due to my fragile limbs but you taught me! Your magic," he says._

_"No Gale, I'm not magic, I'm just really smart," I grin._

_"Nah, your a fairy," Gale decides. A red headed girl comes into view at the top of the street. "Look Keri! I can ride a bike!" Gale shouts, riding off in the red head's direction. "Primrose is a fairy! She used her magic to help me learn how to ride!"_

_"No Gale I'm not. . .oh never mind," I sigh._

_I hurry along the school corridors, trying to find my physics class, when I turn I corner and bump into someone. I drop to the floor to collect my books and the person I bumped into does the same to collect there own books. I look up at them. It's a boy. He has bronze hair and sea green eyes. He's smiling at me. _

_"Hi, my name's Maurice," he says as we stand back up, holding out his hand for me to shake._

_"Pleased to meet ya Maurice," I grin, shaking his hand. "I'm Primrose."_

_"Hey, Primrose," Maurice begins as we head off down the corridor. "Do you like hunting?. . ."_

_"Maurice," I whisper. "I don't think this is right." I'm in Maurice's room. It's dark. All I can see his Maurice's face smiling gently at me._

_"Don't worry, just relax," Maurice says, kissing my neck._

_"I mean, we're only fifteen!" I continue. "We're a bit young do you not think?"_

_"Your never to young when your in love. . ."_

_"Primrose, calm down," Mum says._

_"I told you we were too young Maurice!" I scream. "I told you! I knew we were going to face the consquences for this!" I need to get my rage out. I love Maurice with all of my heart and I know he was right that if your in love then what we did wasn't wrong but I'm so hurt and afraid that I just need to scream at someone._

_"Primrose, do as your mother says and calm down," Maurice says._

_"How can I calm down? There's a human being inside me!" I screech._

_"You could give it to the children's insitute," Mum suggests._

_"No!" I clutch my admonen as if she's going to pull the baby out and take it away right there and then. "I don't want my child anywhere near that filthy place!"_

_"So you want to keep the baby?" Maurice asks me cautiously._

_"Yes, I do. It may have been a mistake but I still love this baby with all of my heart and will do anything to protect it," I say._

_"Me too," Maurice smiles. _

_"Dad, it's wonderful," I whisper. Dad has been working on the baby's room for a week now and I know his work wasn't in vain. He's painted the walls blue with white clouds and has painted in the sea with white topped waves and little boats bobbing along on top. I'm going with Maurice next week to get a cot and pram and all the baby furniture we need. I've even bought a little white bear with a green ribbon tied round it's neck. I want it to be it's first teddy bear. . ._

_I sit in the hospital, feeling completely desolate and numb. It can't be right. It just can't. We were supposed to be a family. Maurice, myself and the baby, who were told was going to be a boy. We would have named him after Maurice's dad, Finnick. Now we can't. We can't. _

_"I'm so sorry for your loss, ," the nurse says to me. "Your too far on in the pregnancy for the baby to dissaptate in your womb. You'll have to give birth to him." _

_I'll have to give birth to a dead baby? Isn't it enough that I had a miscarriage in the first place? Maurice encloses me in a hug and rests his chin on my head. "We're gonna get through this," he says as I begin to sob. "Together."_

_The pain was excruicating. Absoutely terrible. I thought I was going to die. The only comfort I had was Maurice holding my hand as we went. When I finally gave birth to him I was flooded with relief as the pain subsided but soon felt a stab in my heart as I saw how still he was. No crying. The silence was awful. I wanted a miracle to happen. For him to just start crying and the miscarriage was just a mistake made by the doctors. He looked beautiful. He was perfect. I thought of the room back home we made for him. Sky blue walls with clouds and boats bobbing along in the sea near the bottom. Painted by dad's hand. Now I'll never see my baby boy grow up. _

_I'm still in denial as we bury him. The coffin is so small, as if for a doll. My little baby Finnick, dead. No. It can't be. We're going to go home and find granny Everdeen cradling him in her arms and dad finishing off the paintjob in the room. Finnick isn't dead._

_But then as I rest the white teddy bear on the coffin I realize. He is._

_I'll never see him sleeping in the cot Maurice and I had chosen for him. Never see if he enjoyed sports or if he enjoyed reading. Never know if he would look like me or if he would like Maurice. Never see him grow up, get married, have kids himself. No. Never. I'll never see my little boy have a brilliant life. . ._

**A/N:Okay, no cliffhangar again but I thought that the revelation of a miscarriage and love of Maurice would be enough for now. Next chapter's the training center so I think there's a good cliffhangar to come ;) Please review!**


	4. The salt, the girl and the avox

**A/N: Here's chapter four!**

**Training outfits are pretty much the same as the ones in the film. (I just really liked them instead of the tributes wearing anything they want)**

**Thanks to TheHungerGamesFan01 for all your support :) **

**Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**

Chapter four-The salt, the girl and the avox

"Wakey, wakey!" trills Effie the next morning, "It's a big,big,big day!" I sit up and rub my eyes in irrritation. Daminen has left my training costume on the bed beside me. It's a grey shirt that has my district number written on the left sleeve, with matching skin tight trousers and knee-high boots. I look down at my chariot costume and feel immediately bad as it's all wrinkled and creased. When I change I try to smooth it out as best I can but the attempt is in vain as it just looks like a smoothed out mess. I'm sure the avox will know how to sort it out. I can ask her later.

I join Haymitch in the dining car. "Where's Effie and Daminen?" I ask him.

"Effie is in a sulk because I wouldn't accept her acoholics annoymous booklet and Daminen is busy working on your interview dress," Haymitch says, downing a glass of wine.

"Acoholics annoymous then?" I grin, taking a seat across from him.

"Shut up," he says while he pours himself another glass of wine.

"So what's my tactics for today?" I ask.

"First things first, what are you good at?" he asks back.

"Eh?"

"Effie says you were caught with a knife strapped to your ankle on the train. Is that true?"

"Yes," I say as a bowl, of what I can only hope is wheat in some milk, is placed in front of me.

"Are you good with knives?"

"I guess so," I shurg, taking a spoonful of wheat milk then frowning as it tastes horrid.

"Then don't show the other tributes how good you are. That will make you a target. Just stick to the basics. Learn something you don't know. How to start a fire, how to tie knots or maybe learn about poisonous plants or something like that. Save knives for your privite session."

I don't eat any more of the wheat milk. I just down a glass of orange juice and take a bite of some toast. Effie meets me at the elevator and we both go down into the training center. Just as we enter the lift I see her slip the booklet into Haymitch's back pocket which makes me grin.

The training center seems emptier than it usually was on the tapes. Probably because there is only half the number of tributes than usual. All of the tributes are already down in the training center because, even though Effie loves to stick to her shedule, we did lose about half an hour when Haymitch found the booklet Effie put into his pocket and they both agrued about it until a Capitol attendant stopped them both, reminding them about the training beginning soon. Anyway, down in the training center all of the tributes are in a circle with the head trainer in the middle. I wave goodbye to Effie and stand between the girls from eleven and one. The head trainer is called Naomi and spends five minutes giving us an introduction and goes through the rules with us.

"Each station is specially designed to train you in every possible outlet you might find helpful in the games. Please feel free to roam round the stations as you feel right. At the end of three days you will have your privite sessions with the gamemakers where you show them what your really made of. You are allowed to have conversations with each other, to agree on allies if you plan on making any, but you are not allowed to fight with each other. You'll have plenty of time to fight in the arena. That is the only rule. You can now go to your stations," she says.

I see the knife throwing station and wonder how I would fare at it. I mean, I've never thrown a knife before, I've only ever hacked away wood with my knife. Maybe I should go and check out if I can. . . No, wait, Haymitch says I have to do that in the privite sessions. I look around and see the knot tying station. Given the fact that I can't even tie a bow I decide to go there. The trainer is a man in his early thirties with black hair and green eyes. He smiles when I come over. I guess no-one really goes to his station due to all the available weapons elsewhere. It takes me half an hour to learn how to tie a simple bow. I never had a reason to learn how to tie one back at home. Mum tied everything for me. I thought this would annoy the trainer, whose name turns out to be Jank, but he turns out to be a really nice man and he helps me learn to do it. It then takes me another hour to learn a knot but once I get it Jank gives me a round of applause and a cheer. I ask him what other station he'd suggest that didn't involve weapons and he tells me that the edible plants would help if there's no access to a decent food supply in the arena. I thank him and go over to the plants station. I see Zeb sitting on the floor of the station, examining a weird looking flower. The edible plants trainer doesn't really seem to be concentrating as I guess you have to be a bit less reliable on them at this station.

"Don't eat that," I say, dropping down beside him. "It'll kill you."

"This?" Zeb asks, holding the flower closer to his eyes. "It seems harmless."

"Yeah, _seems_ harmless. I encountered one once. A stray rabbit ate one back home and died minutes later." I couldn't tell him that Maurice and I came across the rabbit beyond the fence and we used it's meat afterwards just to spilt as we are in the Capitol afterall and going behind the district fences is forbidden. Zeb picks up the small card that sat beside the flower and frowns. "Your right, it's poisonous," he flicks the card away and drops the flower beside it. "Then what's not poisonous?" My eyes flicker across the various plants and greens lying across the floor. I decide to steer clear of the ones I don't recognize and decide to examine the ones I do. I finally pick up a nut from a small pile to my right and pop it into my mouth and chew. The shell cracks open and bursts with salty sweet goo. Zeb watches closey as if expecting me to curl up and die any second. I pick up the card and grin. "Safe. See?" I show him the card and he frowns. "How did you know that one?" he asks.

"I used to gather some of these when we were short of food," I shurg. Zeb nods and puts one in his mouth too. "Ew, very salty," he frowns.

"What's wrong with salt?" I ask.

"Just not a fan I guess," Zeb shrugs. "More of a herb person myself."

"How can you not like salt?" I ask in shock. "Salt adds flavour to bland food. How can you survive?"

"Meh, day old meat isn't that bad with some mixed herbs I guess."

"You don't look like you eat meat everyday," I say as we move on to the fire starting station.

"Oh we don't. You occasionaly get out of date meat but it doesn't happen a lot. We mainly get tails or entrails," Zeb replys.

"Oh right," I say.

In the fire starting station I sit and rub two sticks of wood together for about ten minutes and nothing happens. Around about eight minutes Zeb begins to laugh at me "Stop laughing at me," I whine as I look at the two fires he has already started. "It's getting warm, I can feel it!" Zeb raises an amused eyebrow and puts his hand on the sticks and cracks up again. "Stop it!" I moan.

"Here, your doing it wrong," He takes the sticks from my hands and begins to arrange some grass around the ground. I watch in curiousity as he rubs the sticks vigriously together and blows hard until a fire flares out of nothing. "Great," I say, "I'm gonna freeze to death."

"You won't. You'll pick it up when it comes to the time," Zeb says.

"I hope so," I reply.

When it comes to lunch time Zeb and I sit beside each other. It's fascinating hearing about his district. The animals, the farming and the people. The peacekeepers are much more strict and enforce the rules down to the full stop at the end of the rules booklet. He says that they have stocks, gallows and a whipping post. I remember mum telling me that district 12 had all of them at one point but they got destroyed during a bombing after the Quarter Quell. Nobody rebuilt them when President Lynn took over.

Just as I ask him if he could teach me how to start a fire I notice someone standing over me. I look up and see the girl from. . . district 5 I think. She shifts her lunch tray to her other hand and wavers a bit. "There's no other seats available, may I sit here?" she asks. I look at the spare seat and and nod. "Of course," I say. She slids into the seat and stirs her broth round her bowl akwardly. She seems to have a nervous tremour in her hands so she just dumps the spoon in the bowl and takes a sip of water. Her's seems to be in a plastic bottle while the rest of our's is in a glass. "Are you OK?" Zeb asks her. She looks at us both and nods. "Yes, I'm fine." Her voice is quiet and shaky. "Is it nerves or something?" I ask.

"Must be," she nods.

"Well, I'm Zeb," Zeb says, holding out his hand. Her hand reaches over shakily and she shakes his hand nervously.

"I'm Kaliana," she smiles as she takes another sip of water.

"And I'm Primrose," I say with a wave.

"Like your auntie?" Kaliana asks.

"Yes," I smile, "I was named after her." Suddenly Kailana's arm jerks, knocking over her bottle of water. I quickly retrieve it before it all pours out. "Are you sure your OK Kaliana?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, just a spasm," she says. "Oh, and you can just call me Kali. Kaliana can be a mouthful."

"OK," I reply. "Your name is very pretty."

"Thank you," she smiles. "Yours is too."

"Thanks."

The next three says consists of going from station to station with Zeb and Kali. I only watch them attempt throwing knives as the careers send a certain person round every few hours to spy on the other tributes. Zeb and I barely got out of the knife station alive anyway as Kali kept taking spasms up her arm and her knife nearly got itself wedged in our heads numerous times. One thing that always fascinated me was Zeb's archery abilities. He could hit a target the size of a pea from the other end of the room. Also, Kali may not be able to use a weapon but she can paint herself into anything in the camo station. When it gets to the to third day, after lunch, we have to have our privite sessions with the gamemakers. Zeb, Kali and I sit at our lunch table as we wait for our turns. Zeb and I are one of the last people to go as I'm from 12 and he's from 10 and it goes from district 1 and works it's way up. Since Kali is from district 5 she is one of the first people to go. Zeb and I both have out suspicions about her. We think there is something wrong with her as her tremours and spasms are too regular to be nerves. We both just hope she gets out of the session without killing someone. Zeb is called one person before me so I wish him luck as he goes in and he does the same for me.

Zeb is gone about five minutes before I realize that the girl from district 11 is still in the room. She is sitting at the table next to me and is rocking back and forth on her chair. She definetly has her district's characteristists. Her dark skin and black hair resembles that of mum's ally, Rue. I'm suprised I didn't notice her during the reaping recap. After about ten minutes of akward silence I begin making napkin swans. After making about 5 swans I slam my head against the table in boredom. Just as I wince on the impact I hear her say, "I'm sorry about your dad." I lift my head and turn to her. "Huh?" I ask.

"I said,'I'm sorry about your dad,'" she repeats, swinging her feet up onto the table. "It was uncalled for and just plain wrong. The whole of Panem are angry with the Capitol for using that footage."

"Why would you care about my dad? When I get killed, whether it's by you or not, it's going to send him off the rails," I say.

"I care about your dad because I know what he and your mother did for this country. Has anyone told you that your a dead ringer of him?" she asks.

"I've heard it once or twice," I say, entwining my blonder hair between my fingers. "I have my mum's eyes though."

"I guess," she shrugs. "I'm Zara."

"I'm Primrose," I smile. "Good luck with your session."

"You too."

Zara is called in a few minutes after that and then it's my turn about half an hour later. I enter the privite session room and see the gamemakers sitting on an elevated podium at one wall. Below them is an array of weapons and defence accessories. I immediately approach a metal board with all sorts of knives stuck to it. I detatch one with a curved point and go over to a target. I take a look at the gamemakers to make sure they're watching, which they are. I straighten myself up and lift the knife up behind my head, ready to throw it. I hope to god I can least hit _something_ on the target. Maybe if I can hit something within the three middle circles I can pull at least a five.

What happens next is still a bit foggy to me. A gamemaker coughs as I throw the knife and puts me off. I know before it hits it I'm going to miss the target altogether. As the knife flies I hear the door at the other end of the room click open. The head gamemaker is about to tell whoever it is to get out as it's a privite session but he doesn't have to. In the one moment it takes me to look up at the group of gamemakers and back is the time it takes me to realize where the knife is going to hit home. The scream has just escaped my mouth as the knife lodges itself into the avox's forehead.

**A/N: Cliffhanger? Yes? No? Sorta? Maybe?  
I won't be posting the next couple of days due to my birthday but maybe next day I post, I'll post two chapters ;)  
Please review!**


	5. A living Nightmare

**A/N: I'm back! Hehe :) OK, I've done two chapters since I haven't posted the past couple of days :D**

**Here's chapter five! It's sorta short but it's got a cliffhanger that will hopefully make you read on to the next chapter ;)**

Chapter five-A living nightmare

The avox is a bit taken aback as he pulls the knife out of his head and the steady stream of blood that pours from his head makes him collapse to the floor. I clamp my hand over my mouth and scream into it. I don't wait to be dismissed, I just run out of the room as fast as I can. I even leap over the avox's body and skid on his blood. The elevator takes me back to my apartment and I rush away to my bedroom, throwing myself onto the floor. Both Effie and Haymitch knock my door, asking if I'm OK, but I tell them to go away. I soon burst into hysterics, screaming and crying. Once I have calmed down a fraction I sit up straight. I'm still shaking and sniffling when I see the blood treaded into my carpet by my boots and pass out completely. All I can see is the knife lodged in the avox's head and the blood gushing from the wound as I drift out of conciousness.

I wake up in a cold sweat. It's dark but when I look at the clock on the wall I realize I can still catch the training scores. I get off the floor, avoiding the bloodstains, and go to the sitting room. Haymitch, Effie and Daminen are already sitting on the sofa. They can see how drained I'am and Daminen asks, "What happened?"

"I think I killed an avox," I croak, my voice too quiet and hoarse for them to hear.

"What?" Haymitch asks.

"I think I killed an avox!" I snap, louder.

"How did you manage that?!" Effie asks in astonishment.

"I was about to throw my knife when one of them stupid gamemakers coughed and made me jump, making me throw the knife and miss the target completely. An avox walked into the room as I missed and it got lodged in his forehead. Those stupid gamemakers won't try to save him as to them avoxes don't matter that much do they? To them they're disposeable!" I end up shouting and I kick the end of the sofa, immediately regretting it and grabbing my foot as the pain shoots up it.

"So it was an accident," Daminen says.

"I still killed him!" I shout, sinking into the chair to the left of the sofa.

"It wasn't your fault Primrose," Effie says.

"Your going to have to get used to killing people or you'll never get through the games," Haymitch says.

"Plus, there's still a chance he's alive," Daminen suggests.

"How is there a chance he's alive?" I ask, "I hit him on the head with a knife!"

"I can find out if you want," Daminen says.

"You can?"

"Sure I can. Here, I'll go find out now and you can tell me your score later," he says, getting up and leaving the room.

The rest of us stay silent as we watch the training scores. The careers from 1,2 and 4 all pull eights and nines as the careers normally do. Kali gets a six which isn't amazing but is OK I guess. The little girl from district 7, whose name turns out to be Meladina, gets a seven which is shocking for a little girl of her age. I hadn't seen her at all during the training sessions. I wonder what she did to impress them so. Zeb gets a ten which is amazing. I guess he did some archery. Zara pulls a ten as well. I sink back into my chair and wince as my picture comes onto screen and I shut my eyes tight and block my ears. I think I hear cheering so I open one eye and see a twelve flash on screen beside my picture. _Twelve?_ That's the highest score. Are they so sick that they decide to give me the highest score for killing an avox? That's horrific.

As I go back to my room I worry as I know my avox will be there tidying up. I slowly open the door and see her there, folding up my chariot costume. There's no doubt she knows about what happened. I tap her on the shoulder so she'll look at me. She finishes folding the clothes and then turns to me. I ask her in sign language, "Is he alive?" She nods at me and I flush with relief. "He'll suffer some brain damage though. He knows it was an accident," she says with her hands. Brain damage? How much? Have I reduced him to a brainless vegetable? I'm about to ask her some of these questions when I realize that I don't even know her name. "What is your name?" I ask her. She spells her name out for me since there isn't a sign language gesture for names. _INOTHINA._

"Inothina?" I ask. She nods. "What was his name?"

"_BENKIN_."

"Benkin? Nice name."

Inothina nods then leaves before I can question her further on Benkin's condition. I watch her leave and then flop onto my bed. Tomorrow is the tribute interviews with Caeser Flickerman. I'll probably spend half the day being prepped by my prep team.

My dreams are filled with knives and dead avoxes. I drown in the blood that emnated from Benkin's forehead several times and suffer an angry beating by him and Inothina. I don't know why Inothina haunts my dreams. Maybe I know, deep down, that she's angry with me over what happened to Benkin. Honestly, I wouldn't blame her.

Effie doesn't wake me up the next morning which is strange. By the time on the clock I should have been woken up two hours ago. I get up and look around the apartment which I find is empty. I have a shower, eat some breakfast and wait in the sitting room for some news on what the heck is going on. After about an hour a grim looking Effie comes out through the elevator. She comes through into the sitting room and sits across from me. "What happened?" I ask. "What's going on?" Effie looks at me and sighs. "The interviews have been put back a day," she says.

"Why?" I ask, completely confused. What could possibly make them push the interviews back? I thought they'd want to get us all into the games as soon as possible. What Effie says next is so unbelieveable that I can't comprehend the words that come out of her mouth.

"District 5 is dead."

**Dun, dun, duh!  
Please review. You'll get a cyber-hug! :D**


	6. Presenting the Capitol's Comedy Act!

**A/N:Right! Here's the second of the two chapters I promised to post. It's much longer this time. ;)  
They're in the games next chapter! :D  
Please read and review.**

Chapter six-Presenting The Captiol's comedy Act!

The whole room starts spinning as I try to think through what she has just said. "What?" I finally manage to say.

"Kaliana died early this morning," Effie explains.

"How?" I ask, my voice cracking.

"Kaliana suffered from epilipsy and the Capitol ignored it. She began suffering from tremours and spasms once she was picked for the games. She took a seizure this morning and hit her head on the bath in her apartment. She broke her skull and died."

"Did she suffer?" I ask, remembering Clove in mum's first Hunger Games whose skull was cracked open and died slowly and in pain.

"No, she died instantly," Effie replies.

Kaliana. I remember speaking to her just yesterday and now she's dead? I remember how frail she was when Zeb and I first met her. How she was brilliant at painting herself into the shadows, and had an amazing sense of humour. "Have they sent her home yet?" I ask.

"No. Why? Did you know her?" Effie asks.

"Yes," I say as if it was obvious. "Zeb and I were both friends with her."

"Well, I think you can just catch her now if you get down to the bottom floor immediately."

I leap off the sofa and run so fast that I can't slow down and bang right into the elevator. I quickly stab the ground floor bottom. When I arrive at the bottom floor I run out and see a coffin sitting in the middle of the floor on a stand. The lid is off it and sits on the floor beside it. I approach it slowly, terrified of what she's going to look like. When I get to the coffin's side I look in cautiously. Kaliana looks exactly the same apart from the giant gash on her right temple. She looks like she is asleep. Her ginger hair bedraggled as if she had just gotten out of bed and her face is clear but pale. I've just finished arranging her hair to hide the gash on her head when the elevator arrives again. Zeb comes running out saying, "Is she still here? Please tell me she's still here!"

"Yes, quick before they take her away!" I say as he appears by my side.

"She looks exactly the same," he whispers as I carefully straighten the floral necklace on her neck. "You'd think she was sleeping." I just silently nod. A couple of Capitol attendants come through at the front door. No doubtably to take her away. I want to fling myself over her, tell them they can't have her but all I do is make her hold her hands and place her arms on her chest and whisper, "Goodbye Kali." Zeb kisses his three middle fingers and presses them on her forehead as they place the coffin lid ontop of her. Bit of an odd gesture. Maybe it's a tradition or something in district 10. It resembles the salute District Twelve gives but your not supposed to make contact with the person your saluting in ours. Zeb and I back away as they carry the coffin away. "I can't believe she's dead," Zeb says as they leave with her body.

"I know. How did we not realize she had eplipsy? My grandmother was a healer, I should have noticed that!" I say.

"The bigger question is, why did the Capitol ignore it?" Zeb asks. "It'll be a bigger problem staging another reaping in district 5 than getting something to keep the eplipsy at bay."

"I can't believe it either," I say. "I wonder who'll represent district 5 now."

"I don't know but they'll have nothing on Kailana."

As if by magic a girl storms into the building, a look of pure rage on her face. "This is so unfair!" she screams out the door, "You had already picked a tribute! Then she goes and dies because you idiots can't be bothered to fix her stupid medical problems! By the way, I'm lactose and tolerant, if you even care!"

"I guess they've already chosen her," Zeb says. The girl turns on her heel and immediately recognizes us. She sighs and comes over to us. "Hey," she says, "I'm the new tribute from district 5, Harrie." I nod and shake her outheld hand. "I'm Primrose."

"And I'm Zeb."

"Can't say I'm pleased to meet you. You were the two people I was going to root for if Kaliana died. Now I'll have to try and kill you," Harrie sighs as she shakes Zeb's hand.

"Yeah, it's terrible," I sigh.

"How's Kaliana's family faring?" Zeb asks.

"They're devastated," Harrie sighs. "I lived next door to Kaliana all my life. Her family always did their best to look after her to make sure she didn't have a seizure. Now the stupid Capitol have killed her!" She shouts the last sentence. I wish she wouldn't shout like that. She could get into a lot of trouble for shouting like that. "Hold on, the games are in two days, how are you going to get training in?" Zeb asks.

"I won't get any. I'll be fine though. The training scores are just a ridiculous betting system for the capitol citizens anyway," Harrie says.

"Yeah, I guess," Zeb sighs.

"Yeah, well I need to go and meet my mentor. I'll see you tomorrow at the interviews." She hops into the elevator and shoots up to the fifth floor. "She's got a lot of guts," Zeb says as the elevator returns.

"You need guts for the games I guess," I say, entering the elevator with him in close follow. "You'd need it to be able to kill innocent people."

"Yeah, I guess your right," Zeb shrugs.

"I'm always right," I grin.

"Oh really?" Zeb grins back as I press the 10 button for him.

"Well, not always," I say. "Maybe 85% of the time."

"85?"

"75?"

"How about 60?"

"60? Done."

Zeb and I seemed to have developed a friendship without even trying. All beginning with a single sugar cube. But as he steps off the elevator and we wave goodbye as the doors slid shut I realize, _I'm going to have to kill him._

"Did you see her?" Effie asks as I enter the apartment again.

"Yeah. We both did," I sigh.

"Both?"

"Oh, Zeb and I," I explain.

"The boy from 10?" Effie asks.

"Yeah," I nod. I'm suddenly hit with the full weight of the fact that Kailana is dead and I feel dizzy. Effie sends me to bed immediately and I don't wake up for the rest of the day.

I'm roused the next day by my prep team. "Morning!" Asiena cheers. I rub my eyes and moan. "Don't hurt me," I groan. Polka and Catie frown at each other but Aisena asks, "Nightmares?" I nod and she nods back. "I completely understand," she says.

"Ready to be prepped?!" Polka smiles.

"As I'll ever be," I sigh.

I take a shower and Catie gives me a special shampoo that leaves my hair with no tangles when I get out. After I'm towelled down they sit me down on a elevated chair and press my hand onto a red button which sends a current through my scalp that dries it and leaves it silky smooth. Polka files my finger nails into perfect curves and paints them orange, red and yellow in a firey fashion while Asiena does the same with my toes. Daminen comes in after an hour and shoos the preps away. He gently puts some clear cream onto my face to make my skin silk smooth, even though I already had five baths for my skin. He then applies my make-up and helps me into my dress. It's made on red silk that clings to my calves and flows back out at my ankles with the same red, orange and yellow strips as the ones on my chariot clothes. He just lets my hair hang losely by my shoulders.

I then spend an hour with Effie learning how to walk in my high heeled shoes and how to sit properly. She also teaches me about manners and when it would be best to say thank you and how to smile while talking.

After that I spend the rest of the day with Haymitch, deciding what angle we should play from. After an hour with him he says, "OK, your not witty, funny, sexy, smart or cute. You know your just like your mother."

"Shut up Haymitch," I snap because I know it's true. Why should I have to play an angle anyway? Can't I just be myself? I mean, I'm going to die anyway so what's the point. I ask Haymitch this and he just says, "Fine, be yourself, see how much sponsers Primrose Mellark can get on her own." Tributes can get sponsers during the games and they send money to the tribute's mentor to send the tribute gifts that could save their life. I doubt I'll get any for my personality but I go with it anyway.

The stage is set up outside the training center for the interviews and we all have to line up inside. Tributes used to sit on stage in an arc but in the third Quater Quell's interviews all the victors held hands. Which did _not_ help the uprising situation. Since I'm from district 12 I'll be interviewed last which suits me just fine as I need to think through what I'm going to say. I wish Zeb was from district 11 so I could talk to him while we're waiting but Zara is inbetween us. I guess it's for the best. The closer I get to him the harder it will be if I'm ever in the position were I have to kill him.

Caeser Flickerman introduces the crowd and is wearing his signature midnight blue suit and has his hair dyed grass green. His hair is a new colour every year. When he speaks to the careers they talk about how they're so excited about going into the games tomorrow. When it gets to Harrie from district 5 they discuss how she feels about being the only one who hasn't been in training. All Harrie says is that she's fine with that as she knows she probably won't make it far. I thought they'd have mentioned Kaliana but they don't. Meladina from district 7 just has small talk with Caeser as nobody really wants to actknowledge the fact that this little girl probably won't make it through the games at all. During Zeb's interview they discuss how he volunteered for his sister, Carrie. In no time at all it's my turn and I'm being ushered onto the stage. The lights blind me momentarily but I manage to make my way to the seat beside Caeser. I blink several times to get my eyes to adjust and when they do I manage to smile at Caeser to look a bit friendly.

"So, Primrose, do you think you have a good chance at winning the games due to your parent's history?" Caeser asks. Brilliant. Straight to the point. "Um, I don't know really, but I don't expect to get very far," I reply.

"We've all seen the footage of your father after the reaping and we're all concerned about how your dealing with it," he says.

"I worry about my father a lot and I don't appreciate the Capitol doing that to my family if that's what you mean," I answer.

"Yes, we're all quite annoyed about it. Also, it mustn't of been easy having Kaliana die on you like that."

"Yeah, that wasn't easy. We're still coming to terms with it," I say glumly.

"We? Whose we?" Caeser asks.

"Huh?" I ask.

"You said 'we.' To our knowledge you were Kaliana's only friend as we only caught you two talking to each other outside the training center two days ago."

Oh yeah. Zeb had decided to stay on in the training center to brush up on his archery. Kaliana and I were messing around for a bit outside when we came down from our apartments to meet him again after his extra time.

"No I wasn't Kaliana's only friend," I frown.

"Then who else?" Caeser says. "It seems a bit unfair going past them without asking them how they were dealing with her death." What? He didn't even ask the girl from her district how she was feeling about it? How her family were doing? And he's worrying about her _friends?!_

"Zeb and I were both good friends with her," I explain.

"Zeb?" Caeser asks in disbelief.

"Yeah, the three of us were very close. Now it's just me and him I guess," I shrug. As soon as the words are out of my mouth I know it doesn't sound right. I immediately slap my face with my hand. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ The voice at the back of head screams. "Well, let's get him back out here," Caeser says. Moments later Zeb is pushed back out onto the stage and he makes his way over to us. He's so confused at what I've just said and I don't blame him for it. I get off the chair and whisper into his ear, "Sorry, I didn't realize how it sounded until it was out of my mouth!" He nods and stands by my seat as I sit back down. "So, Zeb, you knew Kaliana too?" Caeser asks.

"Yes I did," Zeb nods.

"I guess it was hard for you too then when she died," Caeser says.

"Yes it was," Zeb says quietly. "Very."

"And now it's just you and Primrose?"

"Yes. I guess that's a way of putting it."

"But _not_ in the way it sounds," I put in.

"What way does it sound?" Caeser asks. I frown and look up at Zeb. "I've done it again haven't I?" I ask him.

"Yes, I think you have," Zeb sighs. "Before you speak, go through what your going to say in your head before you do."

"I do think before I speak, if that's what your suggesting," I say, standing up.

"Are you sure?" Zeb asks.

"Yes I'm-" I stop for a moment and consider this. "Sure!" I finally finish.

"Then how come you haven't through half of this interview?" he asks.

"I have!" I protested. "I cleared up the mess I made that implied we were lovers!" Zeb sighs heavily and I think again for a moment as they Capitol audience laughs at our scabble. "Which we're _not!"_ I say to them. Even Caeser is cracking up at us. I turn to him and ask,"Isn't it against the rules to bring a tribute back out again anyway?"

"Meh, I think it'll be overlooked," Caeser shrugs.

"Here's an idea!" Zeb declares. "How about you keep this," he presses my lips together with his thumb and finger, "closed."

"No," I mumble with my lips still clamped together. "How about you close yours!" I press his lips together too with my thumb and finger. We both have a silent stare down with our mouths glued together as the audience wets themselves laughing. The buzzer goes to indicate the end of the interview and we both finally let go off each other's lips. "God, were you intentionally trying to stop the blood flow in my mouth?" I ask as I rub some feeling into my lips.

"No but I guess it was a funny side effect," Zeb grins. I glare at him and say goodbye to Caeser. As we're walking back to the the building I go over on my ankle and fall to the floor. Zeb starts laughing at me so I swipe my foot underneth him, making him topple over me. The whole of Panem is probably laughing at us now. We both get back up and dust ourselves off. We wave goodbye again and I wobble again on my shoes which makes Zeb snigger. I push him on the arm and he loses his balance and falls behind the curtains. I gasp and go help him as I didn't mean for him to fall. This just adds fuel to the laughter that's spreading like wildfire.

I crash through the curtains and see Zeb sitting up right, rubbing his head. I can't help laughing at him but I help him up anyway. "You OK?" I chuckle.

"Yeah I'm fine," he laughs. As he finishes the sentence he pushes me into a bunch of material that lies on the floor. I guess I should be angry but I can't help smiling. "I'm so gonna get you!" I laugh. I stay on the floor as Zeb pretends to quiver in fear, "Oh I'm terrified!" he says. As I attempt to kick him from my position on the floor, Haymitch and Tamara (Zeb's mentor), appear through the curtains too, both of them wiping tears from their eyes, and they give us a round of applause. "What's up with you?" I ask them.

"You two are gold!" Haymitch says.

"What?" I frown.

"Neither of you are funny on your own," Tamara explains. "But when your together your hilarious!" Zeb helps me off the floor and I dust myself off. "What do you mean together?" He asks.

"You'd think you two had planned that together," Tamara says. She then thinks for a moment. "You didn't plan it right?"

"Right," I say.

"What do you mean anyway?" Zeb asks.

"You two are made for each other. Comically I mean. You'd think you'd known each other all your lives!" Haymitch declares.

"We were thinking if you two stick together you could manage to get each other some sponsers in the games," Tamara says.

"As allies?" Zeb asks.

"Yes, allies," Haymitch confirms. I consider this suggestion then look at Zeb. "What do you think?" I ask him.

"I don't see any harm in it," Zeb shrugs.

"I don't mind being allies," I say.

"Let's do it then," Zeb says.

"Great, now I have a shield," I grin.

"Shut up," Zeb smiles, nudging me. Not as hard as I nudged him though.

"Zeb," Tamara says, "We better get back. I need to go through a couple of things with you before tomorrow."

"Ok," Zebs says, "I'll see you tomorrow Primrose."

"Ok, Zeb. Bye."

As soon as Tamara and Zeb have left I slap Haymitch on the arm. "What was that for?" he asks in astonishment.

"Now it's going to be even harder to kill him when it comes to the time," I snap at him.

"Don't worry about it. Maybe he'll kill you before you have to kill him," Haymitch says.

"Oh," I say. "I never thought of that. Maybe that would be for the best."

"Maybe it would."

I have a restless sleep that night. The precious rest I get is full of blood and gore. First I see Kaliana convulse in a twist of horror as my nightmares renact her death. When she finally falls and hits her head on the bath the blood that spills from her gash spreads across the floor and on the other end is Benkin with the knife stuck in his head. Inothina is crying beside him as the vision melts away into something different. I'm in the setting of my parent's first Hunger Games. I have my knife in my hands and it's covered in blood. I wonder what's happened when I see someone's feet sticking out from behind a tree. I quickly run over and see Zeb lying on the ground with his stomach hacked out. I assume it's by me as I do have the knife in my hands and it is coated in blood. The scene is so horrific that I start screaming so hard that my whole vision just shatters.

I'm roused by Daminen the next morning. As soon as I wake up I can tell I've been screaming in my sleep as my throat is raw and dry. As I get changed into my training costume, which I just have to wear while we travel to the arena, I suddenly feel sick as I remember where I'm going. Daminen and I go to the roof where a Capitol hovercraft is waiting. A ladder descends from the hovercraft and Daminen gestures for me to go up. As soon as I'm fully on the ladder a current freezes me to the spot as it slides up into the craft. I'm still frozen while I'm in the craft and a woman dressed in white comes over to me and jabs a syringe into my arm. "This is just your tracker," she explains. "It'll let us know where you are in the arena." I may be frozen but it still aches when it gets injected into my arm. Finally the current releases me and the ladder goes back down to collect Daminen. The ride takes about an hour I think. Near the end of the ride the windows black out so it doesn't reveal the location of the arena.

We are escorted to my room under ground and Daminen helps me put on a waterproof jacket. It turns out my arena outfit will just be my training outfit with the jacket. Daminen tells me it reflects body heat as it can be dangerous to light fires with people hunting you. I'm starting to wonder why they made a fire starting station when he pins something on my lapel. I look down and see my mockingjay pin. I had totally forgotten about it. I nod gratefully at him and we sit in silence, waiting for the time I have to go. As launch is called I'm ordered into my tube. I give Daminen a hug. "Good luck Primrose," he whispers into my ear. He flicks my braid behind my back and I say, "Thank you." I slowly approach my podium and I stand as the glass tube descends over me. I silently panic as it begins to ascend up into the arena. I'm plunged into darkness as it goes through the floor. After what feels like hours I'm released into the blinding sun of the arena.

**A/N:Now the fun begins! Hehehe! Free cyber hugs for reviwers!**


	7. Hanging Tree quite literally

**A/N:Hehe now the fun begins :)  
Here's chapter seven! Enjoy! Please read and review!**

Chapter seven-Hanging tree. . .quite literally

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Let the 76th annual Hunger Games Begin!" Claudius Templesmith, the voice over for the games, cheers. I quickly get my bearings as I only have 60 seconds before we're allowed to step off our podiums. If you step off before 60 seconds are up you'll get blown to bits by landmines. The Cornucopia sits in the middle of the ring of podiums that each have a tribute standing on them. The Cornucopia's covered with weapons and backpacks with food and suppiles. It's designed to draw you in for what they call, 'The bloodbath at the Cornucopia.' I scan the surroundings. It seems to be an exact replica of my parent's first Hunger Gamers which I know was chosen specfically to unnerve me and the others due to the parts they played in the rebellion. I find Zeb five podiums to my right. He seems to be looking at something behind the Cornucopia that I can't see. My eyes fall upon a plastic bag that has 7 compartments, each one with a knife carefully placed into it. I bet I could reach it. I'am the fastest sprinter in my class at school. I'm still considering this when the kong sounds to indicate the end of the 60 seconds. I'm so caught off guard that I'm still standing on my podium when half of the others are already at the Cornucopia. I've just stepped off my podium when I'm knocked to the ground as I hear something whizz over my head. It takes me a minute to assess who exactly knocked me over. I see Zeb jumping to his feet and running to where whatever was thrown at me landed. I sit up and see him dislodge a razor blade from a tree trunk behind us. "Come on," he says, taking my hand and pulling me into the forest. After we're about 2 kilometres into the forest we decide to take a rest. "Shouldn't we find some water?" I pant as Zeb sits down on a log.

"Let's see what's in this pack first," He replys, pulling a backpack off his back.

"Did you always have that?" I ask.

"Yeah. It wasn't that close to the Cornucopia so I decided to grab it as I ran. Then I noticed Jamica pick up a blade and chuck it at you," Zeb explains as he unzips the bag. Inside is a pack of dried fruit, a block of soap, a small spool of wire, a pouch and a pair of gloves. "Well that helps a lot," I sigh. "I know how to spilt this in case we get separated anyway." I take the blade from Zeb and cut the soap in half, unwind the wire until it's half on the spool and half off and cut it and take one glove and throw the other to Zeb. I stuff my half into the pouch and tie it round my waist. "How will we half the fruit?" asks Zeb as he puts his half back into the backpack. I pick up the pack of fruit and shake it. "Well, there's one pear slice, one apple slice, three raisins and five sultanas," I say as I open it up.

"Three raisins? How are we going to share that?" Zeb asks, taking the packet from me.

"Well if you add three raisins plus five sultanas, that equals eight so we could have four each," I suggest as we begin to set off again.

"Yeah, maybe," Zeb says. "Hey, do you think the bloodbath will last long since there's so few here?"

"Dunno," I shrug. "I guess we'll see once the cannons go off."

"Let's find some water," Zeb says. We walk another three kilometres when we find a pond. We both have a drink and have a wash. The water is lovely and cold as I swallow since my throat is still a bit raw from my screaming last night. The cannons begin going off as the sun is starting to set. One, two, three, four. Four dead. Eight still alive. "I think careers hunt at night," Zeb says after the fourth cannon blows. "We should find somewhere to sleep where they won't find us." I scan my surroundings and discover a tree hanging over the pond. "How about up there?" I suggest.

"Up there? I can't climb!" Zeb exclaims.

"Don't worry, I'll try and make it easier. Give me the blade," I say. Zeb hands me the blade and I begin hacking the wood away to make some hand and foot holds for him. "This will take a moment," I say.

"What are you doing?"

"Making it easier," I say. "I'll help you up, just let me up onto the high branch there." I climb up the tree with ease, not using the holds I've made as I find it easier to use the flat bark, and swing onto a thick branch about 8 metres off the ground. "Ok, put your feet on the first set of holds," I say. Zeb obeys and I help guide him up the tree until he's inches away from me. I reach my hand out to him and haul him up beside me. I tie us both to the tree trunk with some creepers so we don't fall off. It's a good thing too as mere moments later, Nana, Waness and Jamica come crashing through the trees to the pond. It isn't dark yet, the sky is still a hue of pink, as it's around about six o'clock, judging by the sun. Nana is filling some flasks with the water, Waness is disguising her bright backpack with some wet mud, and Jamica is giving simple instructions on how to swim. Probably in case the gamemakers decide to flood the arena. I wonder if Zeb can swim. I know I can't. I think they're about to leave when a clump of leaves tickle my nose and I sneeze, making Zeb jump and the careers look up at us. "I think this is around about the time where Kali's camo skills would have helped," I murmer.

"Hey, look! It's the idiots from 10 and 12!" Waness laughs.

"Are you two going to argue again? That would be hilarious!" Jamica grins.

"No, we're not going to argue!" Zeb snaps.

"And we're not idiots!" I add.

"Well, most of us aren't," Zeb says.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, looking at him.

"I was kidding Primrose. Have you ever heard of sarcasm?" He immitates my voice from the chariot rides.

"Is this really the time or place to be kidding round?" I ask. Zeb sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Your such hard work do you know that?" he says.

"Shut up," I say, nudging him. Zeb loses his balance and he falls off the branch. He dangles about ten inches off the branch thanks to the creepers. "Zeb!" I cry out, reaching over to help him, making myself tumble head over heels off the branch too. "This is your falut," I say as the careers crack up laughing. I swing to and fro for a while until I twist over on the creepers and climb back onto the branch. I then help Zeb up too.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he says back, pulling the creepers that are wrapped round his stomach out a bit. "How tight did you tie this?"

"Don't complain, I could have choked you if I wanted to," I say. Without warning an arrow gets lodged into the trunk, inches from my hand. I let out a squeak and almost lose my balance again. I look over the branch and see Jamica loading a bow with another arrow and aiming it between my eyes. "You finished?" she asks.

"I dunno, are you finished Zeb?" I say, turning to him.

"I dunno are you finished Primrose?" He asks me back with a stupid grin stuck on his face. I return his smile then I hear a sigh below us. I look down at Jamica and see her release the arrow on her bow. My eyes cross as the sight of the point of the arrow heading towards my face. I shut my eyes quickly and wait for it to hit home. Five seconds. . .ten. . .twenty. I slowly open them again and see the arrow suspended a couple of centimetres from my eyes. "Wait, what?" I ask. I turn to Zeb and see that he has caught the arrow in his hand. Jamica looks annoyed so Nana pulls another arrow out of the extra quiver she has on her back and hands it to Jamica. "Great, first day, and we're going to die," I say as Jamica pulls her bowstring back. Since I have my eyes open this time I see what I didn't see the first time. As the arrow flies at me Zeb's hand whips out and snatches it away again in one second flat. "How'd you do that?" I ask him in disbelief.

"I know my arrows," he replys. Jamica has a look of pure rage on her face now so she orders Nana to go get the extra bow from the cornucpoia and for Waness to try and throw one of the arrows at us with her bare hands. "Zeb, I know you can catch arrows but I don't think anyone could catch three at a time," I say. "Should I attempt throwing the razor blade at one of them?"

"I dunno," Zeb says. "Kill one and the others will be sure to kill us. Don't worry, I've got this."

As Nana returns and loads another arrow onto her extra bow, Waness tries to get a good aim with the arrow in her hands. Seeing all three of them aiming their arrows right at us makes me feel unnerved. "Zeb? Zeb are you sure you can-"

"Sssh, I'm concentrating," Zeb says. I watch the careers line up their aim and see the look of concetration on Zeb's face. I've came to the conclusion that we're going to die when they release the arrows but I soon realize I'd come to that conclusion too fast as when I can practically taste death Zeb pushes me out of his way, making me fall over the back of the branch, and uses his body to block the arrows.

**Duh, dun, dun!  
Review please! Go on, you'll get a cyber-hug ;)**


	8. A cowboy, A tramp and A filthy miner

**A/N:Here's chapter eight!  
Thanks again to TheHungerGamesFan01 for your continued support and I'llLookAfterYou for being a new reviewer :D  
I've been forgetting the disclaimer so here it goes: I do not own the Hunger Games. My mind is not that good. All credit goes to Collins ;)**

Chapter eight-The cowboy, the tramp and the filthy miner

The world spins as I swing rapidly from the creepers and I panic as I know Zeb is properly dead. No-one could block three arrows without dying. I feel sick as the creepers dig into my stomach as they tighten round the branch. I can see the blurred figures of the three careers down below. "Zeb?" My voice is only a small croak due to the creeper that's getting tighter and tighter round my stomach. "Zeb?" I try again, a bit louder.

"Hold on!" I hear him call. At least he's Ok but for how long? I begin inching back up to the branch as I think Zeb is pulling me up. My back hits the hard wood and gets dragged round onto the top. "God Zeb, really? That wrecks," I exclaim, rubbing the burns between my shoulder blades. "You OK?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Zeb asks.

"Well you did block three arrows!" I say.

"Block? I caught them," Zeb says.

"Three?! No you didn't!"

"Yes, I did," Zeb sighs.

"How?" I ask in astonishment.

"Hey, cowboy!" Waness calls from down below.

"What?" Zeb asks, seeming untainted by the name, 'cowboy.'

"How would you like to join the career pack?" Waness asks.

"What? Why?" Zeb frowns.

"That arrow thing was amazing," Nana says.

"You caught one in your mouth!" Jamica puts in.

"Your mouth?!" I exclaim, looking from the three arrows on the branch to Zeb, then back again. Zeb just shrugs.

"Plus your kinda hot," Waness says. The other two nod in agreement. That's when I burst out laughing. "What? Him?!" I ask between laughs. "Your deranged!"

"Yeah, no thanks," Zeb says. "I'm going to stick with Primrose." Nana slumps a bit and Jamica almost snaps her bow in her hands. "I'm starting to think they are lovers," Waness mutters.

"Oh for the love of god, we're not," I say.

"Jamica, the sun is setting, we better set up camp," Nana says. It seems Jamica is the leader of the group as when she tells them that they're staying under the tree to make sure we don't get away, Nana and Waness start building a fire and setting up camp. As soon as it gets dark the seal of Panem is projected into the sky and the picutres of the dead tributes are projected up. The girls from 3,6,8 and 9 are dead. That means Harrie survived. Not bad for someone with no training what so ever. That means Meladina's alive as well. How did she survive the bloodbath? She's only a little kid. Zara's alive too. I guess it's good that no-one I really spoke to is dead. Zeb and I eat some dried fruit and settle down for a long night. I volunteer for the first watch which Zeb and I both agree should be four hours for each of us. None of the careers seem tired but Zeb goes out like a light. I wonder if he'd gotten any sleep last night or if it was a restless one like mine was. I sit on the branch with my legs dangling over the edge while making a daisy chain out of leaves. After half an hour I examine my work and give it a nod of approval. I can feel the heat from the career's fire hitting the bottom of my boots. It feels lovely but I end up crossing my legs as the heat begins to make me sweat, since the boots are knee high, and I absoloutely hate sweating. When I do I drop my daisy/leaf chain. It floats in the breeze and lands on Nana's lap. She picks it up and holds it a couple of metres from herself as if expecting it to implode any moment. "Sorry," I say. "It's harmless. It's just leaves." Nana sighs and chucks it into the fire. I just begin on another one. Jamica looks at me and frowns. "What _are_ you doing?" she asks.

"I'm making a leaf chain," I say.

"A leaf what?" Waness frowns.

"Leaf chain. It's like a daisy chain but with leaves," I explain.

"Patheic," Jamica mutters.

For some reason it just hits me that we're being recorded. I look around for any tell tale signs of cameras but there isn't any. I'm suddenly self conscious so I tuck my knees under my chin to make myself smaller. The careers notice this and laugh. "Look, I think little Primrose has just realized she's on t.v," Waness laughs.

"Aw poor baby," Jamica says, not even bothering to look up at me.

"Well, I don't blame her for worrying," Nana says. "People from the poorer districts don't tend to be as camera ready as us." Waness nudges her. "Zeb's from 10 idiot," she says.

"Well with a few exceptions then," Nana says.

"Don't get carried away Nana. Maybe a couple of exceptions," Jamica says.

"Fine then, a_ couple_ of exceptions!" Nana snaps. I actually feel quite offended by this. "What do you mean? There's plenty of good looking people out in 12!" I snap. "And 11 and 10!"

"11 maybe but not 12. You people are too coal grimy," Waness shivers.

"Shut up," I snap. "I don't care if the Capitol thinks I'm ugly. Most of them are ugly and o.t.t anyway. I actually saw someone with whiskers. I mean, _whiskers_?!"

Is it just me or did I just see Jamica smile? I think I did. Gosh, I bet that's rare. Zeb turns in his sleep and is inches off the edge. I leap across and roll him round before he falls again as I doubt I'll have the strength to pull him back up again. I lean back on the tree trunk and sigh. I wonder what mum, dad and Gale are doing right now? I know they've been watching. They have to. I wonder how Gale feels about this. I doubt he understands properly. Mum will probably have to tell him everything now. I wonder how he's taking it. I'm just thinking about this when I hear Nana say something that sticks out. I stand up on the branch and look down at them. "What did you say about Kailana?" I ask her angrily.

"Well, you know the way we were talking about being camera ready and Zeb and stuff? Well, I was saying how it was too bad about Kaliana," Nana explains.

"What about her?" I ask.

"You don't know?" Waness laughs.

"I don't know what?"

"Oh she doesn't know," Jamica says.

"I don't know what!" I shout, almost waking Zeb up.

"About Zeb and Kaliana," Nana says. "Being an item?"

"A what now?"

"An item," Nana repeats slowly.

"An item?!" I slip on some wet bark and fall on my back. "Crap," I say, bending like a bow. "That hurt." An item?! Since bloody when?! They were never that close. Where they? Zeb's death gesture to Kaliana was strange. But I thought that was a district 10 thing. I get onto my knees and look down at the careers again. "How do you know this?" I ask.

"Everyone knew that," Waness says. "I wonder why you didn't."

"I bet there was obvious signs but she missed them," Jamica says.

"So why did you assume we were lovers then?" I fire back.

"They didn't know each other that long you know. You can go from one person to another without thinking that much about it," Nana says.

So that explains it. Kaliana and Zeb were going out for what little time they had together. I can't believe I missed it. If I knew that I would have been a bit more sensitive when she died instead of starting a conversation about what percentage of the time I'm right. I suddenly feel awash with guilt and feel so bad for him. I wanna wake him up and apologize for not being sensitive about Kaliana but that would be a bit cruel as he needs his sleep as much as I need mine.

I'm still thinking about this when I hear rustling in the bushes. I look over the other side of the tree and see Zara crouched in the bushes with a blowgun in her hands. I can tell she's thinking of ambushing the careers. Which will never work on her part. I think it's because she needs some water. She sees me looking at her and I shake my head slightly to show her it'll never work. I think she knows it too as she looks at the blowgun again and slumps. I jerk my head to tell her to come up the tree. She mouths to me, "I can't climb trees." I bite my lip and then see the creepers wrapped round my waist. Zara sees what I'm planning and gets ready to run. Before I put my plan into action I rouse Zeb. "Zeb," I hiss.

"What? Is four hours up already?" he asks, rubbing his eyes.

"No, sorry, but I need you to haul me up when I jump off OK?" I say.

"Why are you going to jump?"

"Because I'm going to help Zara. Maybe another ally from one of the poorer districts will help," I say. "Come on. Help me." Zeb stands up and I stand on the edge of the branch. "As soon as I have hold of her yank us back up. The careers will see us immediately so be quick." I hold my arms out straight and fall backwards. There's a falling sensation until the creepers tighten inches off the ground. I can see Zara running upside down and Zeb pulls me up a bit so she can grab my hands. I can hear the Careers coming as Zeb does his best to yank us up. Waness gets to us both first but Zara kicks her head, knocking her to the ground. "Come on Zeb!" I shout. "Faster!" Waness goes to get up again but Zara wraps her leg round her neck and plants her other foot in her face. "Zeb? Come on!" I yell.

"I can't! The creeper's ripping!" I hear Zeb shout. Zara kicks behind her and I hear Nana grunt as she gets kicked in the stomach. "Hold on," Zara says. She starts swinging her legs two and fro vigrously in a bizarre fashion until I realize what she's doing. The creepers begin to swing back and forth until we've swung right over the branch. Zeb catches the right part of the creeper that stops us going back down again and we land with a thump on the wood. "Nice job," I tell Zara.

"Thanks," Zara says. "And thanks for helping me."

"Your welcome," I smile. "I mean you did show some geuine concern about my father back in training."

"Well, what they did do to him was ridiculous," Zara shrugs.

"I know," I sigh.

"Oi! Kick girl!" Jamica shouts.

"Kick girl?" Zara laughs. "How patheic is that?"

"Shut up," Jamica snaps. I grin as Nana tries to stop the blood gushing from Waness' nose. "Oh no," Zara holds her foot up to her face. "I've got Career blood on my boots!"

"Look 11," Jamica snaps. "I don't care if you hurt me. I don't care if you hurt my family. But when you hurt my allies that's just too far!"

"Oh I'm terrified!" Zara says. "The trout from 4 wants to hurt me." Zeb and I exchange an impressed look at her bravery. I cut a creeper off the trunk and I tie it round Zara's waist while Jamica and her argue. As I'm tying it round the trunk I start laughing at the names they're calling each other. District 4 and 11 have never gotten along so I'm not suprised at their agruement. Zeb is lying on his back with his hands behind his head and I lie across the branch on my stomach and rest my chin on my hands. I tune back into the arguement when Jamica starts insulting the three of us.

"I mean the three of you won't win the games anyway!" she shouts. "A cowboy, a tramp and a filthy miner!" She can tell by my expression that she's gotten my attention. But it isn't her that speaks up. It's Waness. "Yeah coal girl! Your dad couldn't even keep a level head when you got chosen at the reaping, how the hell is he going to survive seeing you through the games? You won't kill anyone to keep him Ok." Even Jamica is staring at her in shock. Zeb and Zara are waiting for me to react. Go off the walls. Go on a rant. I'am angry. I know that. More than that I'm furious. I stand up and look down on her. "Actually, my dad has my mum and Gale. He'll be fine. I don't care for people making fun of my dad. I don't. I'm not going to kill you. Only if I have to." I pull the razor blade out from my pouch and entwine it round my hand, making it bleed a bit. "But I'm not afraid to." I chuck the razor blade at Waness, hitting her on the arm which opens a giant gash. "Talk about my dad like that again and I _will _kill you!" I scream at her, catching the blade again as Waness attempts to chuck it back. Zara laughs her head off as Nana whips a small first aid kit out of one of their backpacks and wraps Waness' arm up in some badages.

"Primrose, maybe you should rest a bit," Zeb suggests. I nod and lie down on the trunk, still fuming from Waness said. If she ever insults dad again, I won't think twice about killing her.

**A/N: No cliffhanger this time. Thought I'd give the suspense a break. Reviewers get cyber-hugs! ;)**


	9. The Little Boy and his Lost Love

**A/N:Chapter Nine here! Enjoy!  
Disclaimer:I do not own Hunger Games, it's characters (the ones I've used, I own my own OC's) and my mum's recipe for apple pie ;)**

Chapter nine- The little boy and his lost love

I don't sleep for long. I don't think I did anyway as it only seems moments later when I wake up. I sit up and see Zara propped up against the trunk fast asleep and Zeb watching the careers down below. I can see the tiredness in his eyes so I order him to go to sleep. He doesn't protest and falls into a restless sleep. The careers down below are fast asleep apart from Waness. She sits up by the tree with the arm I cut propped up against a tree stump. I feel bad for what I've done but I don't want to say sorry. I can't say sorry to a dead corpse if I have to kill someone. Zara suddenly jolts awake. "I have a plan!" she says.

"What?" I ask.

"I have a plan," Zara repeats.

"I know. I meant what is it?" I ask.

"Oh right. Is Waness on watch?" Zara asks me.

"Yes," I reply.

"Good," Zara nods. "Has she fell asleep yet?"

"How do you know she's going to fall asleep?"

"Did you see how much blood she lost?" Zara asks. "She's defiently going to fall asleep. Come on." Zara and I go to the edge of the trunk and look down. Sure enough, Waness is snoring away. "Look, I'm going to jump off the branch and snatch some of their stuff Ok? When I get enough stuff haul me back in," Zara says.

"Good plan," I say. Zara is about to jump off the branch when we hear it. Tiny footsteps running through the forest. We crouch back down on the branch as the footsteps get closer. A little figure comes through the foilage and carefully walks on small light feet. Meladina. Meladina hops over Jamica and lands again without a sound. She snatches Nana's flask of water, two backpacks, and an axe that Nana had brought when she went to get the extra bow. Speaking of Nana, she stirs a bit now and is suddenly half awake. Meladina silently panics and brings the butt of the axe down on the space between Nana's eyes, knocking her unconscious. She's about to leave when she sees Zara and I crouched in the tree. By the fear in her eyes I think she's going to scream but she doesn't. She just slowly pulls something out of her jacket pocket. It's the pack of knives folded over to fit in her pocket. She looks at it and then up at me. Her chocolate brown eyes have a small glint in them as the sun slowly begins to rise. Jamica and Waness begin to stir a bit too so she throws the pack up to me in the tree and she hops off again into the woods. I swiftly catch the knives and stuff them into my jacket pocket. Zara gives me a quizzical look and I smile. "Now we can escape this wretched tree. Get Zeb up." Zara obeys and wakes Zeb up. I go round the tree and hop onto another branch at the back. "Right you two. Don't follow me until I tell you to," I call round to them. "Oh! And bring the stuff with you!" I can hear Zara explaining the last couple of minutes to Zeb but I need to concentrate. I can see another tree a few metres away that has a thick enough bark for what I need to do. I carefully slip two knives out of the plastic and position myself on the edge of my branch. "Primrose? Primrose what are you doing?" I hear Zeb say behind me.

"Don't distract me!" I hiss, cutting myself free of my creeper and deciding to get a running start. "Don't follow me." I flatten myself against the tree trunk and then run. I almost stop when I reach the edge but I stop myself and I leap off the edge. I feel like I'm flying as I soar over the wildlife below. As I near the next tree I hold my knives in both my hands as I near the trunk. They dig into the bark and I quickly wrap my legs round it. I yank the knives out of the trunk and put them in my pocket. There's a suffcient branch to my left so I swing my leg up onto it and pull myself round. I lean against the branch and wipe the sweat from my brow. I see Zeb and Zara on the other tree, staring at me. I hold my hand up to say wait and look around for some creepers. I find some wrapped round the top of the tree trunk so I cut a long enough stretch off and wrap it round into a circle. I then throw it across to them like a frizbee. Zara catches it and looks at me, confused. "Give it to Zeb!" I mouth at her. Zara frowns but hands it to Zeb. He frowns at me as well so I swing my arm round my head and then flick it towards them. Zeb's frown lightens a little as he realizes what I'm asking him to do. I see him tell Zara something and she backs away a bit. His grip tightens on the length of creeper and he makes a bit of it into a perfect ring and begins swinging it like a lasso. After a couple swings he throws it towards me. I know if I had of tried to throw it like that I would have missed them. It comes whizzing towards me but I don't catch it as it encircles me and drops to my feet. I frown for a moment until I catch Zeb grin. I don't understand why until he yanks it and I feel it tighten round my ankles and forces me to fall over onto the branch. I sit up and glare at him while he and Zara crack up laughing. I want to shout at them but I don't want to wake up the careers so I don't. I quickly untie the creepers from my ankles and knot it round the branch. Zeb has the other end wrapped round his wrists and is looking at me. "Swing," I mouth to him. "I'll catch you, don't worry," I say. Zeb nods and backs up to where Zara and seems to be explaining what they have to do. They both rip their creepers off and Zeb pushes himself so hard agaisnt the trunk it looks like he's going to fall into it. He takes a run up to the edge and jumps off. He bends his knees as he almost skins the ground and then comes flying up towards me. I reach out and catch his hand as he comes up to me. He dangles over the branch as I take the creeper from his other hand and pull him up. "Right, chuck this back to Zara," I say.

"Right." Zeb takes the creeper back and chucks it over to Zara. She cacthes it back and swings over to us. We repeat this process multiple times until we decide that we're far enough away to get down. Once we hit the ground I slap Zeb on the arm. "My elbow aches ever since you tripped me you twat!" I snap. Zeb just laughs. "Aw, poor Primrose. Would you like me to kiss it better?" he asks in a five year old tone.

"No," I huff, folding my arms. Suddenly a silver parachute floats down and lands in Zeb's hands. He carefully unties the string round it and inside is 24 rolls of bread. So we each have eight. "Must have some sponsers," he shrugs. We trek through the foliage with me at the front, slashing the leaves with one of the knives, Zeb in the middle looking after the bread and supplies, and Zara at the back with a dagger she collected at the Cornucopia. "So," she begins as we enter a clearing in the woods. "What's up with you two anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Zeb asks.

"You two are literally hilarious when your round each other but for some reason it seems to have a hint of script in it," Zara explains.

"Well, we don't plan it if that's what you mean," I say.

Somehow, we end up back at the Cornucopia. "How the hell did we get back here?" I frown.

"Maybe we accidently went round in a circle," Zara says.

"It didn't feel like we were going round in a circle," Zeb says.

"Well we must have," I sigh. "Come on, let's have a look at the career's supplies before they come back." We approach the Cornucopia with care and Zara jumps in with her dagger to check if it's clear. It is. Zeb immediately takes a bow and shealth of arrows. I sling a couple of backpacks onto my back and Zara takes a sword and an axe. We all suddenly freeze when we hear footsteps approaching and some panting. Zeb loads his bow and gets into a shooting postion as the figure falls onto her hands and knees. "Hold on," I say to Zeb. "Harrie? Harrie are you OK?" I appoarch Harrie with care and then begin retching as the stink of fresh blood fills my senses. "Harrie!" I fling myself beside her and grip her hand. "Harrie, can you hear me?" Harrie nods slowly. "Ok, what's wrong?" Harrie pulls her shirt up and I see a massive hole punctured in her stomach. I know immediately it's a fatal injury. She falls flat on her back and Zara kneels beside me and puts a damp cloth from a first aid kit ontop of the wound. Zeb covers us with his bow and arrows while I hold Harrie's hand. "What district is she from?" Zara whispers to me.

"Five," I say back.

Zara nods and continues working on the wound. "Who did this to you?" she asks.

"Careers," Harrie croaks.

"Your going to be fine," I say. "We're going to help you."

"Kaliana?" Harrie asks.

"Kaliana died Harrie, remember?" I say.

"No, she's right there," Harrie says, pointing to the sky. I look up and see nothing there. "Harrie, Kaliana is dead," I say.

"So bright," Harrie says. "I'm coming Kali."

"Bright? Is it a light? Don't go near the light!" Zeb says. "Primrose, keep her away from the light!"

"Harrie? Can you hear me?" I say. "Stay away from the light." Harrie's eyes are full of tears. "She wants me to come with her," she whispers. "I have to."

"No, Harrie, don't," I insist. "Don't go!"

"Zeb?" Harrie suddenly says. "Where's Zeb?" I look up at Zeb and he looks at me. "He's here," Zara says.

"I need to see him," Harrie says. Zeb kneels on the other side of Harrie. "I'm here," he says.

"She won't let me go until I tell you." Harrie's eyes are darting around rapidly.

"Tell me what?" Zeb asks.

"She won't let me go till I tell you. She wants you to know. She's telling me now. Won't let me go till you know," Harrie mumbles. I think she's going crazy.

"What is it?" Zeb insists.

"Kaliana needs you to know. Wants you to know. Dead now. Can't tell you herself. Won't let me go. Won't let me go."

"Tell me what?"

"She loves you Zeb. Only dated three days. Loved you since day one. Love at first sight. Ever since you met. Always has, still does, and always will," Harrie says hysterically. Zara and I exchange a look and Zeb looks suddenly serious. "Tell her I love her too. Always has, still does, always will," he says. Harrie's last words are full of emotion, as if they come from Kaliana herself.

"She already knows."

She then falls silent and her eyes lock open. "Harrie? Harrie!" I scream. "Wake up!" I shake her hard. "Stop mucking about. Wake up!" The cannon then fires. "Wake up damn you! Wake up!" Zara slaps her hand over my mouth and I continue to cry in hysterics. Zeb falls back on his heels with tears streaming down his face. Did Harrie really see Kaliana or was it just dying hallucinations? I can't tell but it seems to of shattered Zeb to pieces. "We're going to have to clear out," Zara says. "So the hovercraft can pick her up." I nod and we both stand up. Zeb is knawing on his knuckles and crying so I take his hand and lead him in the direction we're going in, making sure to bring his bow with me. He stumbles behind us and I'm practically dragging him as he cries. We near small river so I stop dragging Zeb and let him curl up into a ball by the river bank and sob. I pat his back akwardly as Zara stabs some fish with her dagger in the water. "There, there," I say to Zeb. "Your OK."

"Oh my god. I still can't believe she's dead," he sobs. Zara comes back with a whole bunch of fish. Zeb suddenly makes a weird noise that sounds like a snort and a sob merged together. "The careers will probably realize some of their stuff is gone so we better keep moving," Zara says. "Especially with the sob monster snivelling and sobbing here." Zeb sits up and wipes his nose with his wrist. "I'm sorry," he sniffs.

"No, it's not your falut Zeb," I say. "Your fine." He looks so small. As if he's just a little boy again. He must of really loved that girl.

"Come on," Zara says. "They'll be coming soon."

We fill the flasks we found in the backpacks and set off again. As we walk I continue to comfort Zeb and reassure him that everything is going to be OK. I had been wondering whether Zeb and Kaliana were just a passing flirtation of dates but now I can tell they were serious. Well Zeb was anyway. I'm still convinced that Harrie was hallucinating as she died. "I wonder what that little girl is doing," Zara suddenly says.

"Well she seems to be capable of looking after herself," I say. "I mean, she's got an axe and she's from district 7. I think she'll be fine."

"I was impressed enough when she survived the Cornucopia," Zara says.

"Me too," I say. "I was impressed for Harrie too. Since she had no training and all."

"Yeah," Zara agrees. "Did you know Harrie?"

"Not really," I admit. "Zeb and I only spoke to her once."

"But you seemed to care a lot when she died," Zara says.

"Well, yeah. It's not everyday you see someone die right in front of you," I say.

"I guess so. You'll have to get used to it though. If you want ot survive the games," Zara says.

"I know I have no intentions of winning the games," Zeb finally says. He seems to have calmed down a considerable amount but his eyes are still red and puffy.

"Me neither," I admit. "But I will try."

"We better cook that fish before it goes off," Zeb says. "Raw meat doesn't last long without proper refridgeration you know."

We cook the fish with a battery powered bunsen burner from one on the packs. As we're eating I consider my stragety. I don't want to ditch Zeb just yet but maybe we should leave Zara soon. I mean, there's only seven of us left now, and I don't want to be the one who kills her. I really don't. As I finish my fish we all freeze as we hear someone coming. I can practically hear my blood pulsing as we stay dead silent. My heart beats at a million miles an hour as I crouch low on the ground to look small. The only sounds are the hoot of the owls and the low hum of the grasshoppers. We stay like this for about five minutes when Zara stands up. "I think they're gone," she says.

As soon as she finishes the sentence I know somethings wrong. Her face goes ghost white and her pupils have dilated into golf balls. You can't even see the hazelnut brown that was once their colour. "Zara?" I say. "Zara?" A small trickle of blood appears out of the corner of her mouth and she falls to the ground. I can't see what's wrong until I crawl closer to her and see it. Her own axe lodged in her back.

**A/N: Duh, Dun, Duh! Is Zara gonna live? Will she die? Will anyone else see dead people? Find out tomorrow! Reviewers get cyber hugs!**


	10. A melody for Meladina

**A/N:Here's chapter ten! Whoo-hoo! We get to meet Meladina from district 7 here :) Enjoy!  
Disclaimer:I do not own the Hunger Games, it's characters, or Suzanne Collins' brain. No copyright infrigment intended.**

Chapter ten-A melody for Meladina

Zeb's arrow is lodged into Nana's forehead before she even has a chance to run. As she falls to the ground I hear the other careers run away in abandonment. I ignore them and grasp Zara's hand. "Zara, you OK?" I ask.

"Been better," she replys. Her voice is hoarse and quiet.

"I don't know what to do!" I say. "You seemed better with the medical stuff and now your dying."

"Primrose, someone's coming!" Zeb says.

"Well get rid of them!" I snap.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't see them."

My head whips rapidly round but I can't see no-one either. "Just keep watching the woods," I say. Zara's grip on my hand is losening. "Zara, come on now. Stay strong."

"Don't touch the wound," A small voice says. I look up and see Meladina sitting across from me. I can see Zeb pointing his arrow at her but I know he won't shoot. "Don't remove the axe. The blood flow will become too strong and she'll die of blood loss." She starts cleaning the blood round the axe and puts some green stuff on. "It'll stop the bleeding. I made it out of some leaves and flowers when Nana cut my leg but she needs it more." I see the giant blood stain on her trousers. How bad was she cut? It looks like it would have been fatal if it wasn't for her plant knowledge. "I'm not going to make it," Zara says.

"I'm doing my best," Meladina says as she puts the green stuff on. "You'll survive yet."

"No I won't. I don't want false hope," Zara says. "I'm going to die."

"Yes," Meladina says. "But on my watch, your going to die in comfort." She jumps to her feet and runs to a patch where the grass is over grown. She rips a whole load out of the ground and starts weaving. I watch closely as her fingers move rapidly round the grass and end up making a pillow. She then comes back over and lifts Zara's head up and sticks the pillow under. She slowly puts her head back down. A tear runs down Zara's cheek. "Thank you," she whispers.

"My pleasure," Meladina rests her hand on Zara's. "Who do you see?"

"Rue," Zara says. "She's so grown up. I'm going to follow her into the great beyond to see what lays ahead. She's singing. She wants me to join in. _Deep in the meadow. Under the willow. A bed of grass. A soft green pillow. . ."_ Zara's singing gets quieter and quieter as she drifts away. I remember the song. It's the one mum sang to Rue as she died. But why does Zara see her like Harrie saw Kaliana?

When the singing stops and Zara is dead I close her eyes with my fingers. "Sleep tight kick girl," I say. I want to to burst into hysterics the way I did when Harrie died but I need to learn to deal with death. Whether I like it or not. Only one cannon fires. Zara is definetly dead. What about Nana? Meladina goes over to her and starts speaking to her. "You know, what you did was a really naughty thing. You took a life for your own survival. Not your falut. We are all adapted to survive. Your brother is waiting for you Nana. Go to him now and you can be with each other forever." Nana's breathing slows down and she's heaving in giant gasps. "Go to Jared, Nana, go to him. He's waiting. Go on." Nana's breathing slowly stops and the cannon fires. Meladina goes to hop into the woods but I run over and grab her wrist. "Ok, you've got some explaining to do," I say.

"Please don't kill me it's not my falut I just can't bear to see people die so I bring their deceased loved ones to them to comfort them! Please don't kill me," Meladina babbles.

"We're not going to kill you," I say. "But how can you bring deceased loved ones to people?"

Meladina shrugs. "I'm sorta physic."

"No, seriously," I say. "I get enough messing from him."

"I'm serious," Meladina protests.

"Yeah, and I can see dead people," I say. Meladina snaps her hand up and presses two fingers onto my forehead and closes her eyes. "Your family history is foggy. Full of fire and burning and rage. Hold on I can sense someone. Prim? Her name's Prim yes? Your auntie? Yes, your auntie. She wants you to know she's proud of you and believes you can do it. Make it through the games, she knows you will make it. Hold on, someone else is coming through too."

"I have no-one else," I frown. How can she even know about auntie Prim?

"Your two uncles."

"I don't have two uncles," I say.

"Oh but you do. Your father's family was killed during a bomb raid many years ago. Including his father, mother, and two brothers. Your father is in too much of a state to even speak of his family and your mother understands that and doesn't mention them either. But he did have two brothers once upon a time. They want you to know that they are rooting for you too."

I pull away. "Ok, maybe you are physic. Why would you want to help the dying tributes?"

"Because death is painful. It always has been. No-one can ever deal with death with ease. My mother died before my eyes. Shot by a peacekeeper. I have no-one back home. I live in the children's insitute. No-one has a choice whether they want to kill or not in the games. You do it because you have to. I want to make them happy in the last moments of life. To show them that nobody blames them for killing."

This kid's freaky. Can see dead people? Scary. I mean, I wouldn't of believed her if she hadn't of mentioned auntie Prim and my apparent uncles.

"And Peeta?" Meladina suddenly shouts, making me jump. "Your mum is sorry for hitting you. It was just brunt bread. It shouldn't have mattered!" My mouth forms an 'o' shape. My grandmother beat dad? For brunt bread? Bit late saying sorry now she's dead. "I couldn't go near you guys when Harrie was dying as I felt you were too out in the open. I brought the wrong person down to take her. It was supposed to be her little cousin, Jessie, but I accidently brought Kaliana. She was supposed to be for someone else."

"Who?" I ask. Meladina nods towards Zeb, whose back is turned on us as he covers us.

"She really did love him you know," Meladina says.

"I know," I say. "You will be able to bring her back if he ends up dying right?"

"I'll do my best. It's hard to bring someone back twice. But I will try."

XXX

"Is Nana dead?" Waness asks Jamica back at the Cornucopia.

"Obviously," Jamica rolls her eyes. "No-one can survive an arrow in the head."

"What will we do? We're one down now," Waness says.

"We need Zeb," Jamica sighs. "Did you see how he caught those arrows? And how he shot Nana so fast? Yes, we need him."

"Well, we can't. He won't join us," Waness says.

"Who says we need his permission?" Jamica grins.

XXX

"You want me as an ally?" Meladina asks in disbelief as we move further into the woods.

"Yes. Your clever and resoureful. We need that," I reply.

"Wow. I thought I'd be forced to work alone," Meladina says. "I never thought I'd get this far anyway. I mean, I comforted everyone who died at the Cornucopia, then I thought I was going to get killed soon enough. Now I've got allies."

"What time is it Primrose?" Zeb asks.

"Um, judging by the sun it's around noon," I say.

"Wanna take a rest?" he asks.

"Ok," I reply, silently relieved as my legs feel like they're going to buckle under me any moment. "That tree looks surdy enough." Meladina scales the tree like she's a squirrel where I have to hack out more footholds for Zeb. When we're all up in the tree Zeb volunteers to watch while Meladina and I take a nap. We agree for him to wake one of us up in an hour or two so he can rest as well.

It seems only mere moments when I open my eyes again. The sun is setting and it's around five o'clock. "Zeb, why didn't you wake us?" I say, nudging Meladina to get up. When I sit up straight and my eyes adjust I don't see Zeb. "Zeb?" I whisper. "Zeb! Where are you?" Meladina climbs higher into the tree to see if he's there but he isn't. "Oh my god. Where'd he go?"

"Maybe he went to get more food and water," Meladina suggests.

"No, we've got enough in the packs we took," I say. "Did a cannon fire?"

"No. I would've heard it. I'm a light sleeper," Meladina says.

"Where'd he go then?!" I say.

"Hold on," Meladina unclips something off the lapel of her jacket. It's about the size of a thumb nail and looks like a black pill. "Once we use this we'll have to ditch it," she says.

"Why?"

"It's supposed to be my district token." She cracks it open and a blue holographic screen appears out of the pill. "We're not allowed to bring weapons as our district token but they thought this was a cod liver oil pill that we make with tree bark at home." She presses multiple buttons on the screen and then a time shows up and some footage begins to play. Meladina slept up against the tree trunk so the small pill had a perfect view of both me and Zeb. She slowly fast forwards the footage until something happens and she stops it. As Zeb keeps watch a small pink device that looks like a bar of soap gets thrown onto the branch. When he picks it up some sort of dart flies out and knocks him out. He falls off the branch as he goes unconscious.

"Ok, what was that?" I ask.

"It looked like a knock out dart," Meladina says. "Who would use that though?"

"There's only two other people left," I say. "The careers."

"Why would they do that?" Meladina asks.

"They wanted him to join them but he wouldn't. Now they're down one person I doubt they care whether they have his permission or not. Come on." I jump off the branch and Meladina follows. We weave through the trees until we reach the clearing where the Cornucopia stands. We crouch by a tree that stands at the outer rim of the clearing. We're facing the back of the Cornucopia. Waness and Jamica soon appear through the trees but they quickly run and hide in the shadows. I wonder why until 12 podiums rise out of the dirt. Each has a different person on them. I start counting back from 60 in my head to see if my hunch is correct. As I reach 30 I see a little girl on the podium Zeb stood on. It's Carrie. I know for sure that Jamica or Waness will kill her if she tries to run. As I reach 10 I grab Meladina's hand. As these people are tributes. They're putting another 12 people into the games.

**A/N:Yeah, I thought too many people were getting killed too fast :)  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**


	11. Hole in the heart

**A/N:Here's chapter eleven. Hope you enjoy it! Here we learn about the side effects of a certain lemon pill from the previous chapter in the Capitol and I've slipped in a Doctor Who quote somewhere. See if you can find it! :D  
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Hunger Games, Doctor Who or their characters.**

Chapter eleven-Hole in the heart

As soon as the kong goes the tributes scatter as fast as they can. I run as fast as I can across the clearing, dragging Meladina behind me, and scoop Carrie up with my spare arm and sling her round my shoulder. She starts to scream but I keep running until we're back in the trees at the other end of the clearing. I sit Carrie down and slap my hand over her mouth. "Sssh!" I say. "It's OK. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend of your brother Zeb." As soon as I say Zeb's name she stops screaming. "Is Zeb OK?" she asks, her voice muffled by my hand. I look at Meladina and she frowns in concentration. "We're not sure at the moment Carrie. We think he's been taken by careers." Before she can react I say, "But we're going to get him back. We need you to be brave OK?"

"OK," Carrie whimpers.

"Good girl," I say. "I'm going to take my hand away now OK?" Carrie nods and I remove my hand. "We need to spy on the careers now. I'm sure your exhausted though. Why don't you take a nap." I arrange a small bed in a bush for her to lie on and she goes to sleep immediately.

"Why did you make her go to sleep?" Meladina asks.

"Because, they might torture Zeb. She's only eleven. I don't want her to see that happen to her brother," I explain.

"Good point," Meladina says.

"How old are you Meladina?" I ask.

"Fourteen," Melinda shrugs. Oh. Older than I thought.

Now that we're at the other side of the clearing we can see the mouth of the Cornucopia easily. The three new careers have joined forces with Waness and Jamica. After about half an hour I begin to doubt they even have Zeb until Jamica suddenly hits her forhead as if remembering something. I watch as she opens a small cupboard and pulls Zeb out.

"About time," Zeb says, stretching. "Do you know how cramped it is in there? Some hotel, last time I book over the internet." I can't help grinning at his goofiness even when he's surrounded by five careers. I even hear Meladina giggle. "Now," he says, straightening his jacket. "You girls just can't take no for an answer can you?"

"Well, maybe if you hadn't of been so deluded and joined us when we asked we wouldn't have had to kidnap you," Waness says.

"Is this the arrow guy?" One of the new ones, whose name I think is Verma, asks.

"Yeah," Jamica nods.

"Arrow guy? Guess it's better than cowboy," Zeb says. "Only by a bit though."

"Are you the one who killed Nana?" A different career, Hamala, asks. I'm guessing she's from Nana's district.

"Yes he is," Waness says.

"Hey, I can speak for myself you know," Zeb puts in.

"Good. She was a right drama queen. Thought the world of herself," Hamala sighs, completely ignoring him.

"It's starting to get dark," The third career, Teggs, says. "I'm going to go hunt some tributes."

"I'll start a fire," Verma says, picking up some sticks and matches from the Cornucopia and dropping to the ground.

"I'll come with you Teggs," Hamala says, grabbing a spear and following Teggs into the woods. Thankfully, they're going in the oppisote direction to where Carrie, Meladina, and I sit.

"Be sure to get that girl Primrose for me!" Jamica calls after them.

"Don't you dare!" Zeb shouts.

"Calm down," Waness says. "I'm sure little Primrose is already up a tree safe and sound."

"Yeah, like I'd give up that game to you anyway!" Teggs calls back.

"Yeah. I just said that just in case," Jamica says.

"Jamica, should I cook some of the rabbit?" Waness asks.

"Yes, go ahead," Jamica nods. Waness grabs some raw meat from a table inside the Cornucopia and kneels beside Verma's fire. She spears a stick through the meat and uses some others to hold it up.

"Maybe you should rest with Carrie," I say to Meladina.

"Will you be OK?" Meladina asks.

"I'll be fine. If someone comes, I have my knives," I smile. Meladina nods and lies down on a small patch beside Carrie. I turn my attention back to the careers and Zeb. Verma and Waness seem to be chatting while the meat cooks. The dead are then projected up into the sky. Nana then Harrie then Zara. Zeb leans against the Cornucopia with his arms folded. He probably knows there's no point in running as they'll catch him and they took his bow and arrows so he's defenceless. Speaking of his bow and arrows, Jamica has them in her hands now. She goes over to him and says, "Why don't you take first watch?"

"I'm not helping you guys you know," Zeb says. "I'm not a career."

"You might as well be one," Jamica replys.

"Aw, you see though, I'm not," Zeb says.

"Here," Jamica gives him the bow and arrows. "I saw you shoot in training you know. I saw you catch those arrows and I saw you shoot Nana. Your a career Zeb."

"I'm really not," Zeb says. "I don't even want to be a career."

"But you have the potential," Jamica says. "Look." She points into the trees. I follow her finger into the foilage until I see someone sitting in a tree keeping watch. "You could hit her from here if you tried."

"But I'm not going to try," Zeb sighs.

"At least show me you can get the aim right," Jamica begs. Zeb sighs and loads the bow with an arrow. I watch as he lifts the bow and lines it up. If he pulled back the bowstring and released that arrow then he would hit that girl right between the eyes. Of course he won't though. She's no threat to him. I know he won't kill anyone unless it's nesscary. "Happy?" he asks.

"Quite." Jamica stands right behind him as if checking the allignment is right. She suddenly encloses her arms round him and grasps both his hands. He immediately freezes rock solid at her touch. "What are you doing?" he asks.

"Showing you how to kill someone," Jamica answers, pulling the hand he has on the bowstring back. She must do something to his hand then as he's forced to let go and the arrow goes flying across the clearing. It hits the girl squarely between the eyes and she falls to the ground. I rouse Meladina. "Meladina," I hiss.

"What?" she asks sleepily.

"Someone's dying," I say.

"Where?" she asks, suddenly wide awake.

"Over there," I point in the dying girl's direction. Meladina jumps to her feet and hurtles off to find her. I turn back to Zeb and Jamica. Zeb hasn't dropped the bow yet and Jamica's standing behind him.

"Your heartless," Zeb says.

"Really? Where does my love for you come from then?" She asks, resting her hands on his shoulders near his neck.

"Sorry, your not my type," Zeb says.

"Since when have I or any of the careers asked for your consent?" Jamica whispers. Zeb then shakes her off. She takes the bow and arrows from him and walks away laughing. A cannon blows and Meladina returns moments later. "Who did you call for her?" I ask.

"Her best friend Rachel," Meladina shrugs. "Drowned when she was five." I nod. "How's Zeb?" she asks.

"Well, Jamica just forced him to kill that girl and admitted she loved him. I bet the Captiol is eating all this up," I sigh.

"Probably right," Meladina says. "They love drama. How are we getting him out?"

"I honestly don't know," I reply.

"You could drive the careers away," Meladina suggests.

"How?"

"With fire in the distance to draw them away?"

"No, that's what got my mum's old ally killed."

"Then I don't know."

I don't sleep at all. I just stay up and stay on Zeb watch. He doesn't sleep either. There's always him and one other career at any one time on watch. I guess they know he'll try to run if they let him watch on his own. When the sun begins to rise Teggs and Hamala return. They haven't killed nobody. I know that because there was no cannon fire. When the sun is in clear view and all the careers are awake Zeb falls asleep. I don't think he meant to though. His eyes just drooped closed and wouldn't open again. The five careers sit in a semi circle round him, probably in case I try to get him back, and talk in hushed tones. I have to listen really closely to hear them.

"Right between the eyes?!" Teggs asks in disbelief.

"Yes, right between them," Jamica confirmed. "And she was really high up in the tree."

As I listen Meladina jerks awake. "Primrose we have to get him out of there!" she exclaims.

"I know that," I say. "But how?"

"No, I mean immediately," Meladina urges.

"Why?" I ask.

"Back home we make medicine out of the tree bark from the lumber we don't use for paper products. As a medicine maker I know the side effects of every remedy in the book," Meladina explains.

"And?"

"You were given the lemon pill right?"

"Yes."

"With that pill there is one side effect. It always happens because it's a rare pill. Stopping someone's menstural cycle is easy but all the pent up hormones from suspending it has to go somewhere," Meladina explains.

"Where does it go?" I ask.

"It's not that _goes_ someone exactly. Instead of getting their period they get  
more. . .let's say _curious_ than normal teens should," Meladina says. "And who's the only boy in this whole arena?"

"Oh no," I say.

"Oh yes," Meladina says.

"How come it hasn't happened to us yet?" I frown.

"Dunno, but it could happen to this crowd any second with Zeb so close to them," Meladina says.

"I think we're going to have to just barge out in the open," I say. I wake up Carrie. "Carrie, can you handle a knife?" I ask.

"Oh yes," she says. "My mum showed me."

"Well, we're going to get Zeb OK?" I say. "And we need you." Carrie nods and the three of us crouch and listen to the careers for another couple of minutes. I pass Carrie a knife and Meladina has her axe in her hands.

"I'm glad we got him when we did," Waness admits.

"He's going to do us a world of good," Teggs says.

"And he's cute," Hamala puts in.

"Do you think he has a six pack?" Jamica frowns.

"I dunno?" Verma frowns.

"I dare you to find out!" Waness says. Jamica has just unzipped his jacket when I jump out. "One more move and this knife gets lodged in your head!" I shout. They look up at me in shock. They're nowhere near the Cornucopia to get some of their weapons. I thought my shouting would've woken Zeb up but he must be one of the heaviest sleepers I've ever met before in my life. "And this axe," Meladina puts in.

"And maybe this other knife. Depending on my aim," Carrie adds. I approach the group with care and nudge Zeb with my foot when I reach him. "Zeb," I hiss. "Wake up." He doesn't wake up, he just stirs a bit. I then kick him in the knee and he wakes up. "Ow!" He yells. He looks up at me. "Why Primrose?! Why?!"

"Just get up you moan," I say, helping him up.

"Carrie?" Zeb says once he's standing up.

"Hi Zeb," Carrie waves. He runs over to her. "Why are you here?" he asks.

"The number of tributes decreased too fast in two days so they put in another set to keep the games going as you probably know," Carrie explains. "They put me in for 10."

"Don't worry. I'm gonna keep you safe," Zeb says, pulling her into a hug. I back away from the careers and turn round. "Come on, let's go," I say.

We're about half way to the woods again when I hear a shriek. I whip round just in time to see the sword go right through Meladina's chest. "Meladina!" I scream. Carrie throws her knife and it hits Hamala right in the heart. The other careers clear off before I get a chance to chuck my own knife. I fling myself beside Meladina. "Meladina? Can you hear me?" I say.

"Who did Carrie's knife hit?" Meladina asks.

"Hamala," I answer. Meladina nods and closes her eyes. Just as she does Hamala starts scabbling at the air. "Follow Bee, Hamala, follow your best friend," Meladina whispers. The cannon then fires and Hamala's dead. "Meladina?" I ask, "Can you bring someone for yourself?" Meladina shakes her head. "Come on! There must be someone you can bring. You deserve it!" I demand.

"Mummy," Meladina whispers.

"Yes, your mummy's waiting for you Meladina. Don't worry about us. Go with her. There may be no-one left for you here, but she's waiting for you there." It's the least I can do. She comforted so many people as they died and the only thing I can really do is do the same for her. As Meladina's breathing gets slower I wipe some hair out of her eyes. "Your fine," I whisper. "Ssssh." Then the cannon fires. I wipe my eyes and close Meladina's. "Come on, before the Careers return," I say to Carrie and Zeb. Carrie pulls her knife out of Hamala's heart and Zeb collects his bow and arrows from the Cornucopia and we clear out.

**A/N:Sorry if you liked Meladina as a character but I thought since we had Carrie now they were getting to be too big of a group so I had to kill her. At least she's with her mummy now! Anyway, please read and review. Go on, you'll get a cyber-hug. :)**


	12. doesn't all fit in, name below AN :

**A/N: Chapter twelve is up! Hehe. Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunger Games or it's characters. A girl can dream though :)**

Chapter twelve-The Healing powers of an eleven year old and a lemon pill

We're so close to the woods when another tribute comes flying from the trees to our far left and grabs weapons from the Cornucpoia. At first I think she hasn't noticed us but then she picks up a spear and chucks it at us. Carrie and I hit the ground immediately but Zeb isn't so quick and it goes right through his shoulder. Carrie screams and I cover my mouth. Zeb doesn't seem to notice though as he shoots an arrow at the girl and hits her in the eye. Once the cannon goes to indicate she's dead I jump to my feet and catch him as he collapses. "Come on Carrie," I say. "We need to get him to the river." Carrie nods and helps me drag him to the nearby river. We set him down by the bank and Carrie begins collecting water. I don't know what to do as the blood seeps in through his t-shirt. It's too much to wish that he stays unconscious as he wakes up as soon as Carrie returns with some water. "Carrie, comfort your brother while I think of a plan," I say. Carrie nods and begins talking to him. She's saying something about some cow that they owned back home called, 'Milky Way.' I don't know whether this is supposed to comfort him or not but I know I need to think of something fast as I doubt the wound is going to wait for my permission to kill him. "Maybe we should clean it first," Carrie suggests.

"Good idea!" I exclaim. "How though?"

"Uh, hold on," Carrie says, slipping Zeb's jacket off. She examines the spear and carefully flicks it. "We need this out first," she says.

"That would help," I say. I stand beside Carrie and look at the spear. "At least it hasn't went right through," I tell Zeb. "You won't have a gaping hole in your shoulder that you could stick your hand through."

"Yeah, now I feel so much better," Zeb says sarcastically.

"Ok, we're going to have to pull it out Zeb," Carrie says, taking the end of the spear. "On the count of three. One, two, three!" She yanks the spear out in one pull. I slap my hand over Zeb's mouth before he screams so he doesn't attract any other tributes. Carrie quickly yanks his t-shirt off and examines the wound more closely. Zeb screams as loud as he can into my hand as Carrie tries to stop the heavy waterfall of blood that's gushing out of his shoulder. "He's going to lose too much blood!" she cries. This would be a good time for Haymitch to send something from the sponsers to help us. Then I remember.

_You two are gold. Comically I mean. We were thinking if you stick together in the games you could manage to get some sponsers._

"Stop screaming!" I suddenly shout at him.

"How the hell can I stop screaming! I've got a Niagra Falls of blood pouring out of my shoulder!" Zeb shouts back. I can tell by the way he's shouting he knows what I'm up to. "Your upsetting me!" I whine.

"Oh pardon me your majesty. I'll try to be more quiet as I slowly die!" Zeb yells.

"Calm down Zeb," Carrie says.

"Calm down?! Sure why not. Nothing to worry about, except that my life is in the hands of an eleven year old!" Zeb says.

"Stop moaning," Carrie says. "Would you rather Primrose do it? You could both agure as you go!" As she speaks a parachute floats down and lands on the ground. I leap on it and open it up. Inside are a pack of bandages. I toss them to Carrie and she rips the bag open. The bandages burst out and scatter across the ground. "Are you kidding me?!" I exclaim, dropping to the ground and scooping the bandages up.

"Quickly give me one!" Carrie says. I hand her one and she turns it over in her hands. "Compression bandages. Not bad for a sponser," she says as she puts one onto Zeb's wound.

"Will it stop the bleeding?" I ask as the blood soaks through.

"I don't know but we'll just have to wait and see," Carrie replies. "You feel alright Zeb?"

"Sure," he replies wearily. His face is drained in colour and I fear he's going to pass out.

"Why don't we find somewhere to hide so you can rest," Carrie suggests. For a girl of eleven, she's very clever and resourceful. "Look, is that a cave?" I follow Carrie's finger to where she's pointing and feel immediately sick. "Can we not try a tree?" I croak. I know it's impossible in Zeb's condition but I really don't want to go over there. "Your joking right?" Carrie asks.

"I guess I'll have to be," I sigh. I sling Zeb's bow and shealth of arrows onto my back and hand Carrie the backpacks. We both hoist Zeb up between us and quickly carry him to the cave. Once we're there I tell Carrie to take him in and let him rest. She does as I say and I soon hear Zeb snoring. I don't want to go inside. I can't go inside. That's the cave where dad nearly died in his first Games and where mum had to care for him. I still don't understand why the gamemakers used their first Hunger Game's setting in the first place. It couldn't have been to unhinge me personally. I mean, I'm not anything special if you don't include my family history. Thinking back the past couple of days, if I was paranoid, I would think that everyone was out to kill me. Jamica chucked the razor blade at _me_, in the tree she pointed her arrows at _me_, her and the careers wanted to drive Zeb away from _me,_ Jamica wanted to made sure Teggs and Hamala kept an eye out for _me_ when they were hunting to bring back to her. But I'm not paranoid. So I don't think like that.

"Are you coming Primrose?" I hear Carrie call. "You need to see something." I take a deep breath and enter the cave carefully. "What is it?" I ask.

"There's like a big red mark on the floor. Looks like blood but it's dry so it couldn't be from one of us tributes," she says. I find my way into the expanse of the cave and see Carrie crouched on the floor and Zeb snoring away against the wall. I crouch beside her and immediately feel dizzy.

I feel myself transported to another Games. Sitting on the cold floor of the cave as thunder begins to hit. My father is lying beside me in a sleepingbag, fast asleep, and my mum comes charging in with blood gushing from a wound on her head. She pulls something out of a small backpack and sticks it into dad's leg. As soon as all the liquid has drained out of it she kneels on the floor and laughs lightly as she collapses, unconscious, and the blood from her head starts pooling round herself.

"Primrose?" I hear Carrie say. "Primrose!" I snap back into reality. "What?" I ask.

"Do you know what it is?" Carrie asks.

"No," I shake my head. "But don't touch it." Carrie jumps back as if expecting it to be posionous. "It's not posionous," I assure her. I run my finger along the red mark and realize the blood has stained the stones. It's my mother's blood. Ok, add that to the 'If I was paranoid list.' "Carrie, I'm exhausted, could you keep watch while I take a nap? Wake me up if anyone comes OK?" I ask.

"Sure," Carrie smiles. I crawl up against the wall, next to Zeb, and immediately fall asleep.

It feels only moments later when Carrie shakes me awake. "Primrose! I think we need to change Zeb's bandages," she whispers. I rub my eyes and realize it's dark outside. "Did anyone new die?" I ask.

"No," Carrie shrugs. "There was Hamala, district 6, Meladina and district 9." I wonder whether district 6 was the one in the tree and Zeb killed 9 at the Cornucopia or if it was the other way round. I crawl over to Zeb and look at his shoulder. The bandage is completely soaked through with blood. "Yeah, I think we need to change it," I say, pulling his t-shirt back over his head. Carrie must of put it back on him while I was sleeping and used the jacket as a blanket for him. As I reach out to peel off the bandage I frown. Did he always look that muscled? I look at his tired face and can't help but feel attracted to his messy hair and pale face. My eyes fall upon his lips and wonder what they taste like.

"Oh my god Carrie!" I jump back as if I've been shocked.

"What?!" Carrie jumps.

"You have to do it!" I exclaim, crawling backwards to the other end of the cave. Stupid lemon pill. I thought it was going to leave me alone! "Why?" Carrie frowns as I chuck her the bandages.

"Just do it!" I cry.

"Ok, Ok, jeez," Carrie mumbles, taking a bandage and changing it carefully. Once she's done she turns to me and asks, "Can I rest now?" I nod slowly and she climbs onto her brother's lap. His arm automatically wraps round her in his sleep. Ah, that must be wonderful, having him wrap his arm round you like that. . .NO! Stop it Primrose! I start pacing the cave, muttering to myself, trying to distract myself from the fact that I feel like a piece of metal and Zeb's the magnet. After about ten minutes, Zeb himself wakes up. Brilliant.

He moans in pain and I smile at how cute it is. I immediately slap myself, a bit harder than I intended. He opens his eyes fully and he looks at me as I whine and cup my cheek. "Why did you do that?" he asks.

"I don't know," I moan, trying to avoid his gaze. He picks up on this and asks, "Lemon Pill?" I start and frown at him. Well, when I say him I mean the ground I was staring at. "How did you know about that?" I ask.

"I'm not an idiot you know. I know you girls have. . .needs and I have heard of the lemon pill and the side effects. You don't think I'm so shallow that I believe all those careers fancied me?" Zeb asks.

"Jamica said she loved you," I say.

"Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. I don't care, I still love Kaliana more than anyone," Zeb shrugs.

"I doubt she'll like that," I say.

"Yeah, I'll be in for one hell of a treat if they find us," Zeb says sarcastically.

"They won't find us," I say, unsure myself. Zeb slips Carrie off his lap and tries rolling his shoulder. "Crap that hurts," he moans. I roll my eyes. "My legs are falling asleep," he says.

"Need any help getting up?" I ask.

"No I think I've got it," he says, getting slowly to his feet. He stretches his uninjured arm and gives it a shake. "You know, I never thought I'd get this far," he says. I smile sympathically because I know exactly what he means. "Me too," I reply.

"The worst part is I now know I can't win," he says.

"What? Why?" I ask.

"Because as long as I'm alive it's my job to protect Carrie and to make sure she wins."

I look at Carrie, whose slumped against the wall, fast asleep, and sigh. She's eleven years old. She doesn't deserve to die. I have lived for seventeen years and I don't think my life is going anywhere. Carrie could do anything with her life if she tried. I look at Zeb and sigh. "Me too," I repeat. He stares at me curiously for a moment before frowning. Before he speaks I say, "Zeb, I'm going to look after Carrie with you. I won't make anything out of my life if I win. At least a youth like Carrie might."

"What about your dad?" Zeb asks.

"Dad has mum and Gale. I know it's the right thing to do," I answer.

"Look Primrose, you don't have to look after Carrie you know. I'm perfectly capable of scarficing myself for her if the need arises and I don't want you dying for me or her but then I want Carrie to win as it's her only way of surviving but I don't know how I'm going to do it and-" I cut him off by clamping his mouth together like we did in the interviews with Caeser Flickerman. How long ago was that? Two days? Three? It's hard to keep count in these retched games. "Shut up," I sigh. "I'm looking after your sister with you whether you like it or not. If it comes down to the three of us me and you can accidently kill each simultainiously in a fight, leaving her winner, but to do that we need to get rid of the others. Which includes your band of career admirers and the new recruits."

"Maybe if we hide they'll end up killing each other?" Zeb suggests through his closed mouth.

"Maybe a few will but we will have to eventually have to go out and fight a bit ourselves." I then look at his bandaged shoulder with the ever growing blood mark. "Well, Carrie and I will have to."

"Hey, I can still shoot," Zeb protests. I roll my eyes and sigh. "Raise your arm then," I say, releasing his mouth.

"Fine, I will," he replys, cautiously lifting the arm of his injured shoulder.

"Ok stop!" I say once he's half-way up as the blood stain on the bandage is growing faster as he goes and the clear exterion on his face looks painful. I quickly take his arm and lower it back to his side. "Don't. Maybe you can shoot again in a couple of days."

"Then I'll be useless to everyone for a couple of days," Zeb sighs.

"Well then you can be ten times more helpful when your better," I say. Zeb looks truely annoyed and frustrated at how defenceless he is. I bite my lip to hide my amusement at this and sigh. We both share some crisps we found in the backpacks and save a packet for Carrie.

"Maybe I should go out and see if I can set up some snares," I think out loud.

"Do you have any idea how to make snares?" Zeb asks.

"Uh. . .no. Do you?" I ask.

"Oh snares? Oh course. . .not," he replies.

We both freeze as we hear footsteps coming closer. We go deeper into the cave to where Carrie is sleeping and hold out breath. Two of the newer tributes come round the side of the cave but don't see us.

"Where is she?" a girl with black hair hisses.

"How should I know?" the other one, a red head, hisses back.

"We can't let the careers get her as they get everything!" black hair whines.

"What is going on?" I whisper to myself.

"Well, it's most likely that the careers are going to get her anyway but we can keep searching anyway," red head says.

"Yeah, I mean as long as we're alive we might as well attempt to win the Primrose Mellark Death Bounty."

**A/N: What's the Primrose Mellark Death Bounty? Will Zeb survive the injury? Will they be able to protect Carrie? Find out tomorrow!  
Reviewers get cyber hugs!**


	13. The Primrose Mellark Death Bounty

**A/N: Hey People! I'm real hyped up today as I got a new Hunger Games poster! Yay! It's now hanging proudly on my wall :)  
This is Chapter thirteen. You see quite an upsetting side of Primrose here when she learns the truth of this 'Primrose Mellark Death Bounty.' Enjoy! :D**

Chapter thriteen-The Primrose Mellark Death Bounty

I'm about to jump out of our hiding place and demand to be told what the hell they're talking about when Zeb grabs my wrist with his good arm and pulls me back against the cave wall. What? A Death Bounty? For me? Why? What have I done? Maybe I should of taken that, 'If I was Paranoid' list more wants me dead? All these thoughts and questions run through my head so fast I barely hear the careers abushing the two tributes. Red head flees but Verma stabs the back of black haried's neck. Zeb and I crouch down lower as Verma looks around herself for others before running off into the woods again. A cannon hasn't fired so I shake Zeb off my wrist and run out of the cave. I have a couple of questions for a certain black haired girl.

I leap out of the cave and turn the girl round onto her back. "Hey," I say, clicking my fingers in front of her eyes. "Talk to me."

"Primrose Mellark," she says almost menacinly. "My family could have gotten a right lot for you."

"You family?" I frown.

"Well, if I didn't survive and I killed you, they'd get the money," she replies.

"Oh," I say. "About that, whose offering money for my death?"

"President Lynn," she answers me.

"What's your name?"

"Sal," she replys. "District eleven."

"Your from Zara's district?" I ask. Sal nods. "Why is President Lynn giving out money for whoever kills me?"

"Punishment. You were born from an unclean family. Full of treason and rebellion and fire. As soon as we were chosen for the games we were each told that whoever kills you will given an amazing amount of money for us or our families. Now who would turn that down? Once you die your dad will go off the walls, the new tribute from your district has already confirmed he's unstable enough watching you, and your mum won't be able to handle it. Once that happens the best case seriano is that your dad will die." Rage bubbles up inside me and I'm about to kick the crap out of this bitch when she continues. "When that happens things will settle down for a bit but your family deserve to suffer for their rebellious crimes forever so as soon as little Gale is old enough it will be rigged for him to go into the Hunger Games just like you were and the same bounty will be given out for his death. Your mum will be left on her own with no-one to care for her! All because of a small fatal fruit put in the hands of your parents!" She spits up at me.

"Why would you do this? Your not a career! Why would you say such horrible things about my family?" I whimper.

"Your stupid mother killed my sister!" Sal screeches.

"W-what?" I frown.

"She left her on her own. Sent her to set up stupid fires while she persues her idiotic plan to blow up the Career's food!" Sal's voice is rising. I'm scared she's going to attract some tributes but the coast seems clear. "District one shot a friggin spear into her stomach! All because your mother couldn't get there in time!"

Rue. She's talking about Rue. Actually, I can see it now. Dark skin, matching eyes, chocolate brown hair. She's Rue's double.

"But mum sang to her as she died. Decorated her in flowers," I fire back.

"'She sang to her as she died! Decorated her in flowers!' Does that make up for her death? Make it OK that that man got shot before my eyes for singing that four note tune to her on the Victory Tour? Mhmmm? DOES IT?!" Sal screams.

"Shut up!" I shout to her.

"Why should I? I'm as good as dead!" Sal shouts back. "Oh poor Katniss. Star crossed lover who was so hard done by but could wield a bow and arrow like a career! Oh yeah she's such a victim isn't she? She even got your even stupider dad kidnapped by the Capitol and got him hijacked! She even got her own sister killed too! Her district destroyed! WHY CAN'T SHE JUST DIE AND BE DONE WITH IT!"

I leap to my feet and start kicking her in the stomach. "Shut up!" I cry out to her as I can't bear hearing her talk like this. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! Your don't know nothing about my family!" Sal is laughing at me now. As I kick her she laughs. I grab her hair and yank her to her feet in front of me. "My mother cared for your sister! Looked after her! Sang to her as she died and decorated her in flowers to hold the Capitol accountable for her death!" I scream into her face.

"Your family deserves to suffer!" she spits in my face. I slap her and grab the front of her shirt and shake her until her eyes roll to the back of her head. Still no cannon. She's not dead. "Your not dead yet!" I shout, "Stop pretending!" Her eyes flutter open and she grins. Her last sentence makes me angry, upset, and confused all at the same time.

"Your family deserve to suffer for their rebellious crimes Primrose Mellark! Fire leaves destruction in it's wake!"

Then she's dead. The cannon makes me jump and I drop her to the ground. Did I kill her? No. Verma stabbed her right? Could she have survived if I hadn't of beaten the crap out of her? No. Is it possible? I-I just killed her!

"No you didn't."

I spin round to see Zeb standing in the entrance of the cave. Had I been asking those questions out loud? Have I been talking to myself?

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness you know," he continues, coming out into the open to have a look at Sal. "What's her name then?"

"Sal. District 11," I reply.

He nods. "Don't listen to a word she said Primrose. I know your want to look after Carrie with me and make sure she wins but I'm sure if you do die then your mum will be able to handle your dad and Gale. I know enough about Katniss from the history classes on the rebellion at school to know she can manage herself and those of whom she loves. She also has others, like I'm sure Gale will help when he's old enough and there's that lovely looking woman and her daughter from the reaping. You know, the woman helped your mum sedate your dad and her daughter gave you the salute?" When I nod he continues. "She's got them to help as well."

"Honest?" I ask.

"Honest. Cross my heart and hope to die," Zeb grins with a wink. "Maybe Gale will finally get to learn the ropes of the Mellark family. Learn how to help your mum look after your father and stuff."

"I don't know. I'm seventeen and I still don't know how to look after my dad so I doubt Gale will." Gale. . .Gale. . .Oh my god GALE! "They're going to put Gale in the Hunger Games!" I shriek.

"What?" Zeb frowns.

"Sal said. She said: 'Your family deserve to suffer for their rebellious crimes forever so as soon as little Gale is old enough it will be rigged for him to go into the Hunger Games just like you were and the same bounty will be given out for his death!' Oh my god! What are we going to do?!" I cry. Zeb pulls me into a one armed hug and I sob loudly, probably drawing tributes towards us but I don't care. They're going to put Gale in the Hunger Games? My Gale? The little boy who spread rumours about me being a fairy? No. He wouldn't survive five mintues! I break the hug with Zeb and scream as loud as I can. "I SWEAR TO GOD PRESIDENT LYNN IF YOU PUT GALE INTO THESE GAMES I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! DEAD OR ALIVE!" Zeb slaps his hand over my mouth and looks round, half expecting an ambush to just fall on us but it doesn't happen. I begin to sob again so Zeb leads me back into the cave and tells me to rest.

This time it doesn't feel like moments later when I wake up like it has the past couple of times I have slept here in the games. I'm plagued with nightmares. It starts off as me wandering through the games' forest on my own. I find myself in the Cornucopia clearing where Gale is sitting in the middle on his own. "Gale?" I call. "Gale!" I run towards him but he gets further away with every step closer I take. After my fifteenth step Teggs and Jamica run out of the forest and stab him to death. "GALE!" I scream but nobody hears me. Suddenly I'm in a white office that is a sort of oval shape and has the flag of Panem draped by the back wall. I then see President Lynn handing stacks of money to two couples who each resemble Jamica and Teggs. It seems like I'm not even in the room as nobody sees me. Then I'm in a foggy yard. The fog curls round tree branchs and leaves like long fingers trying to grasp hold of the solid object they know they can never hold onto. The grass beaneth my feet is knee-high and neglected. As I pick my way through the grass I see a shadowed figure in the distance. I hurry towards it but stop dead five metres away. It's mum. She's crouched before a grave stone, crying her heart out. I come up behind her and read the name on the stone.

Here Lies a loving family

Peeta Mellark -loving father and husband

Primrose Mellark-loving daughter and sister

Gale Mellark-loving son and brother

Currently awaiting Katniss Everdeen/Mellark

May God have mercy on their souls

"NOOOOOOO!" I scream, mum not even twitching at my screams. I want to dig the grave up. Hug my father and brother. Tell them that I'm so sorry I died in the games. That's it's all my fault. It's then that I realize the truth.

It will be my fault.

**A/N:Aww! Poor Primrose :(  
Please read and review. Go on! You'll get a cyber hug!**


	14. The Stalkerish Man

**A/N:Hey people! Here's chapter fourteen! Sorry if the story on how Peeta met Katniss isn't accurate it's just I lent my Hunger Games books to my cousin so I couldn't write it down in detail but I think I got it close enough. Enjoy!  
**

Chapter fourteen-The Stalkerish man

I bolt upright, screaming, as I wake up. The sun has already risen and I can tell it's around nine in the morning. I touch my cheek and find it soaked through with tears. I can't imagine dad or Gale dead. The dream was so life like though. . . I close my eyes and try to imagine images of my family members to keep them fresh in my mind. I didn't even speak it dad on the reaping day. Wait, what was the last thing I said to him then? I close my eyes and think back to last week.

_We're sitting in the kitchen. Dad and I. He's making mum some cheese buns as she's a bit poorly and cheese buns are her all time favourite treat that he makes. I'm sitting on one of the elevated chairs that sit by the kitchen counter._

_"Dad, when did you first realize you loved mum?" I ask him. Dad looks up from his mixing bowl and smiles at me. It's very rare that I see him smile nowadays. Especially with the reaping next week. _

_"Oh, we were only kids. It was our first day of school and my dad pointed her out. She was wearing a plaid dress and had her hair in two braids instead of one. He said, 'See that girl? I was going to marry her mother but she went off with man from the seam.' I asked him why did she chose a seam man if she could had him. He replied, 'Because when he sang, even the birds stopped to listen.' That day in assembly the teacher asked who knew the Valley Song and her hand shot right up. They stood her up on a stool in front of us all and she sang every word and I swear, all the birds outside stopped singing and listened to her. And it was then I knew I was a goner. I watched her walk home everyday after that."_

_"Everyday?" I frown. "Isn't that, like, a bit stalkerish?"_

_"Probably, but I didn't care. She was just so beautiful." _

He went into a sort of trance after that so I went to my room and did some homework. So the last thing I ever said to him was, 'Isn't that a bit stalkerish'?! I kick the cave wall in furstration. What the hell? Now if anyone ever asks dad, 'what did your daughter last say to you?' It won't be, 'Oh she said she loved me,' or, 'Oh she told me she believes I can get better,' oh no, he's gonna say, 'She accused me of being a stalker.'

"I don't think your a stalker dad," I whisper as I curl up into a ball in the corner of the cave.

"What?"

My head shoots up and I see Zeb looking at me curiously. Carrie's still fast asleep across his lap. He has a habit that he seems unaware of of patting her back gently as she sleeps. "Huh?" I ask. "Oh, nothing."

"Are you alright?" he asks me.

"As good as you can feel in these stupid games," I reply. I see the soaked through bandage on Zeb's shoulder and sigh. "Your bandage needs changed again," I say. How long is that thing going to bleed? I think the effects of the lemon pill are starting to wear off as I don't feel anything when I slowly peel away his bandage. "How many more of those do you have?" he asks as I stick a fresh one on.

"Two," I sigh. I know one thing. I'm _not_ in the mood to stage an agruement to get some stupid sponsers. Zeb sees this and sighs. "Tired of being the Capitol's comedy act yet?" he asks. What does he mean yet?

"Yeah," I reply. "I'm sick of being made fun of. Me and you are not a joke!"

"Glad we're finally on the same page," Zeb says.

"Wait, what?"

"I never wanted this. They brought me back onto the stage with Caeser to talk about Kaliana, not become the laughing stock of Panem. I clamped your mouth shut because people were starting to think you and me were lovers cuz' of your big mouth and I didn't want that cuz' I love Kaliana."

I'm dumbstruck. _Zeb_ was always the goofy one wasn't he? I mean, my big mouth did get us into the comedy crap in the first place but he was better at it than I ever was. It's all my falut isn't it? I'm the one who made us looks so stupid. Come to think of it, I did push him a lot even though after what happened at the interview I knew he had as much balance as an elephant on a tiperope. Damn it it's all my fault.

"It's not your fault though Primrose," Zeb reassures. Spooky. I know I definetly wasn't talking to myself that time. Is Zeb going to turn into a male Meladina? Freaky physic person? Nah, it's probably just a concidence.

"Oh, so my mouth isn't big enough for it not to be my fault?" I ask, feeling quite annoyed all of a sudden.

"Your annoyed that I said you had a big mouth aren't you?" Zeb asks.

"No kidding," I reply acidly.

"Look, I've got a big mouth too. I can even fit my whole fist into my mouth," Zeb starts a patheic yet amusing show of trying to shove his fist into his mouth. I can't help but smile. He's such a goofball. I think he sometimes does this whole comedy thing self conciously without realizing. Just the way Zeb is. Once his gets his mouth over his knuckles I decide that he's going to have to stop now or he's gonna choke himself.

"Ok Zeb, you've made your point," I grin, taking his wrist and pulling his hand back out. A load of drool follows his hand on the journey out of his mouth and just about avoids hitting Carrie. "Yuck!" I exclaim, jumping backwards. "That's gross!"

"Primrose Mellark can change a bandage soaked in blood but can't stand the sight of some drool?" Zeb asks in a patronizing tone.

"Shut up," I snap.

Suddenly I see a parachute blow into the cave. There's a small note stuck to it.

Keep it up ;)

"No!" I shout, hurling the package across the cave. "We're not trying to be funny!" My god, doesn't Haymitch get it? We don't want to made a joke of anymore. "What's in the parachute anyway?" Zeb asks. I pick it back up and carefully unwrap it. There's some water and crackers. Oh yeah, I forgot about being hungry.

"Hungry in the Hunger Games," I joke drily, giving Zeb some crackers and letting him take a sip of water before taking a sip myself. Carrie finally awakes after that. She stretches carefully and I give her the remainder of the crackers and the crisps we saved for her the previous night. We all agree to perserve the water so she only takes a small sip.

While she's eating I sit with my back pressed against the wall, thinking. A Primrose Mellark Death Bounty. President Lynn wants me dead because of my parent's history. It makes sense I guess but it's not fair. It's obvious Zeb wasn't told about the bounty as the Capitol knew we were friends and everything. That doesn't explain why Zara didn't try to kill me. Or Meladina. Maybe they were just nicer people than the others. Paying the tributes to make sure I die. It's disgusting. But then again, nothing about the Hunger Games is nice anyway. Suddenly something hits me.

"Carrie," I say. "Were you told about the death bounty?"

"What?" Carrie squeaks with a small jump.

"Were you told about the death bounty?" I repeat.

"What?" Carrie says again. "No, not me." Her voice is dripping in a tone stuffed with lies. Zeb sees it too. "Carrie," he says calmly. "Did you know about the death bounty?"

"No," Carrie repeats in the same tone of voice, slowly getting to her feet and backing up against the cave wall oppisote me.

"Carrie," Zeb's voice is full of warning.

Carrie turns to look at me. I'm actually petrified by the look on her face. Her eyes are full of rage and are accusing and her face is scrunched up in anger. She reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls something out. My god is that a knife? I can sense whats coming before it happens. She runs at me, knife in hand, poised to kill.

**A/N:Uh-oh spagetti 'o'!  
Reviewers get cyber hugs! :)**


	15. J'em appelle Carrie

**A/N:Ok, here's chapter fifteen! Hope you like it! :D**

Chapter fifteen- J'em appelle Carrie

Zeb leaps up and encircles his arms round Carrie's waist before she reaches me. "Get off Zeb!" she screams. "We need the money!"

"Carrie!" Zeb shouts, tackling her to the ground. He sits ontop of her stomach and pins her arms down with his hands. "Our family wouldn't want to earn money like this!"

"Yes they would!" Carrie shouts back. "They're on the brink of starvation Zeb! You haven't seen them the past couple of days! They're dying! They need the money!" As she screams a cannon go off, making me jump. When I tune back into the conversation Carrie is screaming nonesense that only Zeb seems to understand. Hold on, is that french? She's screaming at him in _french?_

"Is that french?" I voice my thoughts out loud. Carrie whips her head round at me and shouts something else, which I assume is still french.

"Carrie," Zeb snaps. "Don't call her that! That's disgusting language!"

Wait what? What did she call me? She swore at me in french? How can they even know french in the first place?

"Zeb, is soap poisonous?" I ask him.

"No, I don't think so," Zeb answers with a frown.

I pull my half of soap out of my pouch and approach the agruging brother and sister. Zeb has taken up on the french too as he's shouting at her in the same language. I kneel by Carrie's head, pull her mouth open and shove the soap inside. "Clean your mouth out!" I say to her with a grin. She spits bubbles out at me and Zeb and I laugh. But then she starts choughing wildily so I pull the soap out and give her a drink. She just spits it back up at me. "You make me sick!" she snaps.

"It's just soap, jeez," I say. She gives me a death glare. I can't help but smirk. Suddenly, she kicks Zeb. . .uh. . ._there_. Zeb actually screams in a horrific manner and falls to the ground. Carrie then reaches out and grabs my neck. I feel my throat closing over as her grip tightens with every passing second. I scrab her face with my nails but it has little effect since I've bitten them to stubs in the last couple of days. Gigantic black spots come up in my line of vision. That can't be a good sign. When I think I'm about to die I hear a slap and I'm released. I fall to the ground and fall unconcious.

_"Dad? Why are we here?" A ten year old version of me asks as we both stand in a meadow at the edge of the district. Dad sits down on the grass and beckons for me to do the same. I sit beside him and look up at him, waiting for his answer. "We are here Primrose to respect the history of the district," he replies._

_"History of the district?" I frown. "Why here?"_

_"This is where a lot of very noble people are buried," he says._

_"From the district?" I ask._

_"Yes, all from district 12," Dad answers._

_"Why were they noble?" I ask._

_"Your just full of questions aren't you?" Dad says, tapping my nose. I giggle. "They were all killed in a bombing of the district many years ago."_

_"Why were they bombed?" I ask. Dad doesn't answer. He just stares at something in the distance without blinking. "Dad? Dad!" I wave my hand in his face and he snaps out of it. "Huh?" he asks._

_"Why were they bombed?" I repeat. _

_"There's hundreds of people in there," he says, avoiding my question. I don't push it as I know how he can get when he relives the past. _

_"Dad, do you have a family?" I ask. I had spoken to granny Everdeen on the phone and had said at prayer by the Primroses that grow by the side of our house but I'd never met anyone from dad's side of the family._

_"No. I don't," he replies simply._

_"Not even a mum or dad?" I frown._

_"Everyone has a mum and dad," Dad says. I notice he's rubbing his right cheek self-conciously. "Mine are in there."_

_"Your parents were noble?" I ask._

_"Very. . ." _

_I look at Dad and can see that glazed over look in his eyes. I may only be ten but I'd seen it enough to know when it was going to happen._

_"Hey dad," I say, taking his hand. "Let's go back to mum, OK?"_

**A/N:Another cliffhanger break. If your wondering how Zeb and Carrie can speak fluent french it'll be explained in a later chapter. Please read and review! You'll get a cyber-hug! :)**


	16. The Singing Trout

**A/N:This chapter gives a bit of humour after Carrie's actions. Enjoy!  
Disclaimer:I do not own Hunger Games, The Scissor Sisters or Whitney Housten. *sigh* If only.**

Chapter sixteen-The Singing Trout

"Aaargh!" I wake up, feeling cold and wet. My vision is blurred for a moment but then I see a bout of ginger hair in my eye line and grin. I sit up and rub my eyes. "What the hell Zeb?" I say as I notice the now empty water bottle in his hands.

"You need to eat," he says, throwing me some berries.

"So you chucked water on me? What happened to 'Wake up sleepy head?'" I ask.

"It died with my patience," Zeb replies.

"What happen to our other food?" I ask him as I notice the mess spread across the cave floor.

"Most of it got stood on when I fought Carrie when you passed out," Zeb sighs.

"Then we're going to have to go hunting," I say, standing up. I notice Carrie in the corner, out for the count. Her wrists are tied together with. . .creepers I think.

"Come on Zeb," I say, throwing him his bow and arrow. His arm seems a bit better now as the blood stain is smaller.

_"I can't decide whether you should live or die. . ."_

Zeb and I freeze and back away to where Carrie is sleeping.

_"Oh, you'll probably go to heaven please don't hang your head and cry. No wonder why, my heart feels dead inside, stone and hard and petrified, lock the doors and close the blinds, we're going for a ride."_

Someone's singing! Who is it? It must be a career. Who else would be singing out of enjoyment in the games? As if to confirm my suspiscion, Jamica comes into view at the mouth of the cave.

_"I could throw you in a lake or feed you poisoned birthday cake. I won't deny I'm going to miss you when your gone!_ Ha! Not!" Humph. Typical Career. _"I could bury you alive but you might crawl out with a knife and kill me when I'm sleeping that's why. . ."_

She starts all over again at the chorus and she's so terrible Zeb and I can't help but giggle. When she gets round to the second verse Zeb lets out an involuntary snort, making Jamica spin round. She's facing the cave mouth now but she doesn't see us. "Who's there?" she shouts. I try to suppress my giggles as she is staring right at us but isn't seeing us at all. Thank you shadows made by cave walls!

_"And I will always looooveee yyooouuu!" _She starts singing, turning back around. I'm about to laugh when I feel Zeb stiffen beside me. Oh yeah, she's probably thinking about him. Bitch. I nudge Zeb and he looks at me. "Don't let her get to you," I whisper.

"I'm not," he replies. I give him a look. "OK, maybe a bit," he corrects.

_"I will always loooovvveee yyyoooouuu!"_ she continues to squawk, not moving from her spot. I think it's about time we show little Jamica whose boss. "Come on Zeb," I take his hand, bow and arrows, and carefully walk out of the cave. "Hey Jamica!" I shout. She spins round to face us and her eyes swivel for a bit then rest upon us both. "Love the singing!" I make sure my voice is dripping sarcasm. Zeb sniggers beside me and Jamica gives us a death glare. I laugh and nudge Zeb. He looks at me quizzically and I indicate for him to aim his bow and arrow at her. He looks at me for another moment before raising the weapon up so the arrow points at Jamica's heart. "You won't shoot me," Jamica says. "You don't have the guts to kill someone unless they're threatening your life."

"He's not going to kill you," I say. "But he's going to prove he's capable of it."

"I am?" Zeb frowns.

"Yes you are," I hiss. "Now hit something really hard with your arrows." Zeb frowns at me but complies by killing ten mockingjays from a group that's flying past by hitting them in the eyes, getting them all before the first bird he hit even reaches the ground. I look to see if my plan is working. It is. Jamica looks unnerved.

"You gonna leave him alone yet?" I ask.

"What ever do you mean?" Jamica mock gasps.

_"And I will always loooovvveee yyyyoooouu!"_ I sing in what I hope is a much better voice than hers. The nearby mockingjays take it up so I'm statisfied that I can sing. Jamica glares. "Fine. I'm trying to freak him out but, no, I'm not going to leave him alone."

"Zeb, take it away," I say. Zeb looks around for something to hit and spies an areoplane passing over. He wouldn't be able to hit that would he? He wouldn't try! Or would he? He takes another arrow out of his quiver and sticks it onto the bow. "What are you doing Zeb? Even my mother wouldn't be able to hit that!"

"Sssh," he hisses.

"Did you just shush me?" I snap. Zeb ignores me and pulls back the bow string. He waits for a few seconds then releases the arrow. It tears through the sky and the clouds at an uncomprehensiable speed. I gasp as the arrows lodges itself in the plane's pilot's window. I whistle in admiration then look at Jamica. "Ready to leave him alone now?" I ask.

"Is it strange that I'm turned on right now?" Jamica asks.

"Oh for the love of God!" Zeb has loaded another arrow and pulls the string back. When he lets the arrow go it flies at Jamica's head, missing the top by inches, taking a few hairs away with it, and it lodges in a tree behind her. Jamica flees into the woods singing, _"I will always looovvveee yyooouuuu Zeebbb!"_

"Well, that plan went to pot," I sigh. Zeb goes and pulls the arrow out of the tree and frowns in digust at the yellow and sea blue hairs that are stuck to it.

"You can keep those!" We hear Jamica call. Zeb drops them as if they're electrofied and quickly comes back to stand beside me.

"Your arm must be better," I say, pulling down his shirt sleeve to peel off the bandage and have a look. "The bleeding has stopped but I'll keep this on to keep the germs and stuff away. Come on, we better go find some proper food."

"What about Carrie?" Zeb asks.

"Jamica stared right into the cave and didn't see us. She'll be fine for half an hour or so," I say.

"Are you sure?" Zeb asks.

"Yeah. Trust me."

**A/N:Well, there you go! This is definetly a lighter chapter as things will start to get heavy soon. Please read and review! (Sings:) You can get a cyber-hug!**


	17. Drowning in knee deep water

**A/N:This is a real short chapter but I promise the next couple will be longer. At least it's got a good-ish cliffhanger :)  
Disclaimer:I do not own Hunger Games, it's characters or ideas. I only own my OC's and this story's plot. :D**

Chapter seventeen-Drowning in knee deep water

"Ew, ew, ew, ew!" I exclaim as the rabbit's blood coats my hands. I had just silt it's throat with my knife as it was taking too long to die after Zeb's arrow hit it and it's blood just gushed out and soaked my hands. "Zeb! Get it off! Get it off NOW!" I demand. Zeb is splitting his sides laughing. He takes my wrist and leads me to the nearby river and I plunge my hands into the cool water. The blood washes off my hands almost immediately and follows the flow of the water down the stream. I take my hands out and dry them on my jacket. "Yuck! Next time, make sure your going to kill the animal properly," I say.

"I'll do my best," Zeb replies, picking up the rabbit and slinging it onto his shoulder.

"Look, look!" I say. "Quick!" I point at another rabbit a couple of metres away from us having a drink in the river. Zeb quickly loads another arrow and shoots it without blinking. The rabbit teeters a bit where it stands and then falls into the river. "No!" I shout. Without even thinking I leap into the water and grab it before it goes downstream. I snag my knee on a rock but ignore it as we need the food and I'm _not_ letting the rabbit get away. I dive right under and catch it before it goes down stream. I choke on the water as I gasp for some air but I manage to get it. Then I realize I can't swim. Panic rises in me and I start to thrash and flail wildly as I sink to the bottom. When I feel I'm going to die I feel my collar tug and I get yanked back out into the blinding sun. I gulp in giant intakes of breath as I hang in mid-air. "Zeb? Is that you?" I gasp.

"Yeah, it's me," he replies. "You do know that that water is only knee high don't you?" I look at the river and realize he's right. That water would have only went up to my knees and yet I nearly drown in it? God I'm such a twit. "Get off me," I moan.

"You asked for it," Zeb chuckles.

"What?"

He lets go of my collar and I fall back into the river. I fall on my backside and glare at him. He just grins at me. "Your so gonna get it," I growl.

"Hey, at least I didn't drown in knee deep wat-aaargh!" I grab his ankle and yank him into the water with me. To my demise I get about 75% of the splash but he still gets a considerable amount of water on him too. I start laughing as he spits some water out of his mouth and shakes his head like a dog to get the access water off. We start splashing each other in the water, not having a care in the world about the other tributes or our almost certain death. We just laugh and soak each other for what feels like hours.

Until we hear her scream.

We both stop splashing and fall quiet as we listen to see the scream will come again. At first, all we can hear is the mockingjays still doing their copy of my, 'I will always love you,' but then, as the water grew still, we hear it again.

"ZEB!" The screamer screams out. The scream is high pitched and growing weaker by the second. It belongs to a girl. And there's only one girl who would scream for Zeb like that.

Carrie.

**A/N:Dun, duh, dun! What's happened Carrie?  
Please read and review! Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**

**On a completely different related topic, I've been wondering for a while, what does the terms, 'Canon' and 'Slash' mean? If anyone can tell me they'll get an extra cyber-hug. Thanks! ;) **


	18. Hatred

**A/N:Chapter Eighteen is here. This chapter has anger and sadness at the same time and there will be a couple of chapters before it lightens up again.  
On chapter 7 of my story I got a comment from a and I forgot to thank them. Thanks to them and all my reviewers :)  
Disclaimer:I do not own the Hunger Games, it's characters or ideas. I don't make a profit out of this story. Sadly. *sigh* :D**

Chapter Eighteen-Hatred

"CARRIE!" Zeb screams back almost immediately, leaping out of the water and running back in the direction of the cave. I try to follow him but the water feels like it's added ten pounds to my actual body weight. "Zeb! Wait up!" I call. He doesn't stop, he just continues to run in the direction of Carrie's scream. "Zeb wait!" I shout again.

"ZEB!" another scream comes. Now I know he definetly won't wait on me. I stumble through the foilage and trip onto my hands and knees in a clearing. The scream doesn't come two cannons fire off. Everything grows still. The mockingjays have stopped singing, the water has stopped flowing, all I can hear is my own ragged a different scream comes. Only it's a male voice this time. The scream is full of rage and pain and hatred. And it only screams one thing:

"CARRIE!"

"Zeb?" I call, getting to me feet. "Carrie?" I reach the stream that we cleaned Zeb's wound by. I look up to the cave and see a dark figure standing in the entrance. I can only recognize them by their ginger hair. "Zeb!" I call. "What's happened?" He doesn't answer. He doesn't even flinch at the sound of my voice. I hurry over to him and look into the cave.

At first all I can see is darkness but then I see a body lying in the middle of the floor with an arrow in her heart. Teggs. Then, in the corner of the cave, lies the little girl who slept half the time, swore at me in french, ate a bar of soap and tried to kill me for a bunch of money, with her throat slit right open and a pool of blood around her neck.

"Carrie?" I whimper. I don't know what to do. I suddenly feel really numb and I feel like I'm going to pass out. But then I realize. I'm not the victim in this. I should be trying to comfort the real person who'll be effected by these past couple of minutes. Zeb.

"Zeb, are you OK?" I ask. Stupid question. Of course he's not alright. What I do I expect? 'Oh yeah Primrose I'm fine. I mean, she's just my little sister who I swore to protect with my life.' He gives me a glare that confirms my suspicions on how stupid the question really was. I can tell by the look in his eyes it's only a matter of moments before he's going to break down. I go over to Teggs and start dragging her out of the cave to give Zeb some alone time with Carrie before we have to take her out too for the hovercraft to collect her. As soon as I'm out I hear sobbing. My heart cracks in half as I think about how much pain he must be filled with. All I can do to compare the pain is think what it would be like if it had of been Gale. I wouldn't have just shot Teggs in the heart though. I would have kicked the crap out her. Made her suffer. Beat every piece of career pride she has out before letting her die. But that must mean Zeb is a better person than me. I know one thing that it means though. I may look like my dad but I'm not as merciful as him. I must get my temper off my mum then because she's been through the same thing and felt the exact same. I think.

I lay Teggs by the river and crouch beside her. "She was only eleven years old," I hiss to the dead body. Something then hits me. "It's not her fault," I say to myself. I'm about to voice my thoughts when someone else says them for me.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT CAPITOL! IT'S YOUR BLOODY FAULT!"

It's not Zeb. He doesn't have the nerve to shout to the capitol like that. I spin round, falling onto my backside in the process, and see someone coming out of the trees a couple of metres to my right. Hold on, I know her. It's Opheila Galley. When rebuilding the district after the rebellion her house was built ontop of where my mother used to live. I have only ever said hey to her in passing at school or on the street. She used to be from the merchant part of the district as her mother was a butcher and her father worked in the mines but as soon as her mother was killed by a peacekeeper just recently she and her father were forced back into to the seam. It was hard for them to adjust back into the seam lifestyle but they get by. Her black hair is tied back into a tight bun and her green eyes are full of anger. She must have been picked as the new tribute for district 12. I wonder what she's screaming about. I know I shouldn't but I call to her.

"Ophelia!" I hiss. Ophelia whips round at lightening speed but her face relaxes when she see me. "Oh, Primrose it's you," she sighs, clutching her heart as if I'd jumped out behind her with a knife pretending to be Pyscho. "What's wrong?" I ask. "You were screaming."

"Oh, everything just finally got to me. I mean, district 7 got murdered before my eyes by the careers and that was terrifying!" Ophelia exclaims. That must of been who died while Carrie was yelling at Zeb in french. "And then there was your dad's attempted suicide."

"My dad's _what?!"_ I shout. Ophelia jumps and then suddenly looks pitiful.

"Um . . . your dad attempted suicide the day you went into the games."

"My dad wouldn't do that," I say.

"Try telling the hoards of people who saw him on the roof of your house with a length of rope round his neck that. He was having an episode. They're coming more frequently now your in the games. Apparently he believes he needs to be there for you if you die. He won't wait to see if you _do_ die or not. Thank god your mum got there before he could jump, sedated him and cut the length of rope. Now there's a 24 hour watch on him," Ophelia explains.

Dad attempted suicide just to be there for me if I die? I don't know what to think. I don't want him to die for me. I love him with every inch of what I'm worth.

"That's why I was shouting that it's the Capitol's fault in the first place. They _were_ the ones who hijacked him in the first place weren't they?" Opheila asks. I nod numbly. She puts a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry Primrose, he's safe." She then notices Teggs for the first time. "Did you...?" she asks.

"No, Zeb did," I reply, still thinking about my dad's safety.

"Where is the 'cowboy arrow guy' anyway? The whole of Panem were splitting their sides when the careers started calling him that!" Opheila laughs.

"Opheila, Carrie's dead," I say.

Her laughing stops immediately. "What?" she says.

"Teggs killed Carrie," I reply. "And Zeb killed Teggs."

"S-so the little girl is dead?" Ophelia asks quietly.

"Yes," I sigh. "Sadly."

"Poor Zeb," she mutters. "You don't sound too affected though." She thinks for a moment then a smile spreads across her face. "She tried for the death bounty didn't she?"

I look at her, completely aghast. I don't know why though. Of course she was told about the death bounty. I'm sure the only people who didn't know where me, Zeb, and probably Kailana if she had made it into the games. People who would tell me from the get go about the fact that the tributes were told that whoever kills me gets an amazing amount of money.

"Look, I better go," I say. "They're going to have to collect Carrie at some point and we need to get out of the way for them to collect Teggs." I turn to walk away but Ophelia grabs my wrist.

"Oh, I don't think so," she says with an evil grin. She pulls me towards her and presses a sword against my neck. "Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the arena this morning," I say, deciding to use humour to cover my panic.

"You know, I wasn't going to go for the money but now that I think about it, it's really tempting," Ophelia grins. I laugh weakly, trying to stay on top of things. "Dad is on his deathbed Primrose. There's no cure for what he has. His death is inavoidable. I'm not going to a children's home Primrose! If I get out of here alive, I'm going to buy myself a house and live there. For the rest of my life. Sure, your death will be on my head but so will district 7's."

"You killed District 7?" I gasp.

"Well duh!" Ophelia almost spits.

"You know," I begin. "I don't feel like dying just yet." I stamp on her foot, making her double over and leap out of the way as she tries to stab me with her sword. She straightens herself up and begins walking towards me. With every step closer she takes I take a step back. "You see Ophelia, thing is, I'm not worth killing," I say.

"Oh really? And why is that? It's not like there's a bounty for the tribute who kills you or anything then?" Ophelia says. Damn it. I was going to start a long ramble about how I'm not worth killing and how she should just move along and find someone else to buy myself some time. I stop moving for a moment and stand up straight. "Well, that arguement ended in a hurry," I say. "Whoa!" I jump out of the way of Ophelia's sword as she tries to stab me again. "Not so fast!" I grin. She tries again and I swiftly avoid it. I then get cocky and start landing on my tiptoes and twirling about. I even do a catwheel. But then when I get back up from it I trip over Tegg's body and fall into the stream. Ophelia laughs at me.

"Oh Primrose, I'm going to enjoy this," she grins.

"What?" I ask.

"Don't pretend you don't know. Every girl in school hates you!" Ophelia snaps.

"What?" I ask again.

"All the boys stare at you when you come into school, you turn heads all the time. Your so lucky that you got your frigging looks off your frigging father! None of them even consider the rest of us. They think they have a chance with you!"

"I don't get my looks off my father!" I snap. "I have my mother's eyes!"

"Oh yeah your mother's eyes. Then you have your father's blonde hair, your father's jawline, your father's features! I mean, my god! Did you leave any of your father's assets for your brother?" she asks me.

"Uh. . .what?" I frown.

"Oh but now the boys won't have a Primrose Mellark to root for. They'll have to consider the rest of us as Primrose Mellark is going to die right here right now!" Ophelia screams.

"Are you trying to say my mother isn't good looking?" I snap. "Because my mum is good-looking! People seem to only notice my father due to the hijacking issue and nobody seems to see my mother in the background. She's just as kind and caring and good looking as my father!"

"That's what I _mean_. You've got your father and mother's looks smashed together to create super-baby! You've got the obvious assets of your father then the more subtle ones of your mother," Ophelia explains. "Can I get on with killing you now?"

"Wow, wow, wow, calm down Princess," I say, holding my hands up in self defence.

"It wouldn't matter if you didn't die anyway. You have little Zeb to keep you company. What do you do in that cave anyway? Snog each other's faces off?" Ophelia snaps.

"Isn't snog a british term?" I frown. That throws her over the edge. She screams and raises the sword above her head. I shut my eyes tight and wait for the death blow. Suddenly my life flashes before my eyes. From learning how to ride a bike, to teaching Gale, to meeting Maurice, realizing I love him. Then I see him. My baby Finnick, dead in the nurse's arms and I'm filled with anger. I leap from the water and tackle Ophelia to the ground.

"You think my life's perfect just like everyone else does don't you?" I say to her. "Oh, that's Katniss and Peeta Mellark's kid Primrose. She has everything! All the boys stare at her, she lives in a fancy house in the Victor's Village, her life is just easy going. Well it's not! Ok? My life is just as hard as anyone in the seam's!"

"No it isn't! You have no idea what we go through!" Opheila spits.

"Oh yeah? Is it fair that I can hear my mother scream in the night from nightmares? Is it fair that my little brother's only toy is a small matchbox?"

"You have bicycles!" Ophelia interuppts. "I seen you teach Gale how to ride!"

"A bunch of Peacekeepers took them for their kids!" I snap back. Ophelia rolls her eyes and I slap her. "Is it fair that I have to tread around on eggshells when I'm with my father because I don't want to say the wrong thing and make him have an episode? 'Isn't it a shame Peeta can't keep a sound mind for more than an hour?' My dad is the most brilliant man alive and all anyone can think of him as is the poor mad man who got hijacked and can no longer keep sane. I don't care what you think, I don't care what the Capitol think, I don't care what the whole bloody world thinks. I have just as hard a life as the rest of you so don't you _dare_ say that my life is easy!"

"That's why you all deserve to die," Ophelia hisses.

My eyes sting with tears and, for the first time since I've been in the games, I want to go home. I want to sit on my father's lap by the fire like I did when I was a kid. Bury my face into his shirt and never come out again to face the terrors of the world. I want to play eye spy with my mother again, knowing that she's letting me win but never letting on. I want to see the smiling face of my little brother. I want to pick him up and twirl him round the room like I always used to do. I want to hug Maurice, kiss him, tell him that I love him. I want to say goodbye to my little boy's grave. But then if I die. . .he'll be there won't he?

I get off Ophelia and bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms round them. Could I really let her kill me? I could be with my little Finnick! Finally cradle him in my arms and kiss his forehead. Smell the baby scent and baby powder and finally get to tell him that I love him. . .

No. I can't. For one thing, it's pretty much the same as suicide. Another thing is that I need to look after Zeb. I can still hear his pained sobs in the cave and I know how vulnerable he is at the moment. He needs someone with him to prevent him from doing something stupid.

You know, I really should have realized this before I got off the girl whose trying to kill me who is now standing over me with her sword in her hand again. I shut my eyes again, with a weird sense of deja vu, and wait for her to stab me to death. Then nothing happens. I risk opening an eye, a bit worried that I'd just catch the sword entering my body, and see Opheila in the hands of a ginger girl. Her fingers are clasped round Ophelia's throat and Ophelia herself is scrabbling at her face with her stubby fingernails, trying to get some air into her lungs.

"Gonna kill her were you?" the ginger girl hisses.

_"Did you kill her? The little girl, did you kill her?"_

_"No!"_

_"I heard you say her name! Did you kill her?"_

_"CATO!" _

"Think it's funny to kill people just cuz' you want a load of money? Huh? Well it's not and I think your time is up." With one sharp movement she snaps Ophelia's neck. I gasp as she falls to the ground and the cannon goes off.

_The rock gets brought down onto Clove's forehead and a cannon fires._

I jump when the ginger girl turns to me. "You Primrose Mellark?" she asks.I nod numbly.

"My name is Reyna Zachary. And I'm here to protect you."

**A/N:Who's Reyna? Why is she here to protect Primrose? Find out tomorrow ;)  
Also sorry that the flashback to Clove's death isn't accurate but as I've said previously, my cousin still has my books.  
Please read and review. Free cyber-hugs for those who do! :D**


	19. The boy behind the lasso

**A/N:In this chapter to get to learn a bit more about Zeb and his family history.  
Also this chapter is gonna prove that it's not just Primrose's family that gets tormented by their roles in the rebellion.  
To be on the safe side this chapter is rated M due to an event of Zeb's past.  
Please read and review! :)**

Chapter nineteen-The boy behind the lasso

"Pro-protect me?" I stammer.

"Oh don't think I'm personally hired to look after you with my life or anything. Your an ally to Zeb Walls. And I owe him a _lot_," Reyna explains.

I groan. "Oh no, your another ansty tribute hocked up on lemon pills aren't you?"

Reyna laughs. "Actually no, I'm not. That's not what I mean."

"What do you mean then?" I frown. _Zachary,_ where have I heard that surname before?

"I owe Zeb everything because he loves someone so close to me," she says, trying to prompt me. What? The only person he loves is Kailana. And Carrie. But they're both dead. Reyna can see my blank expression and sighs. "I'am Kailana's twin sister," she says.

"WHAT?" I say. Reyna just smiles.

"My sister never had anyone except for me. No friends. No parents. We only had each other. I had many friends but everyone in the district were weary of her because of her occasional tremours or spasms. No-one wanted to be around her," tears are pricking in Reyna's eyes. "Then she was picked for the Hunger Games and I knew I was never going to see her again. There was no way she was going to survive with her epilipsy. Then she died before you guys even went into the games. I thought she died alone and afraid as she had always been back home."

I feel tears come through in my own eyes. I think I can see where this is headed.

"And then I watched your interview and I found out that Zeb and you were her friends. She'd never had friends before. I wanted to jump into the television screen and give both of you a giant hug. Tell you guys how grateful I'am that you came into her life. Then in the games the careers told you about Zeb and her's relationship and I was even more estatic. Then Harrie got injured. . . .and what Meladina did. . .and what Kailana said. . .the way Zeb reacted just showed all of Panem that Harrie's dying words were not a lie. Bu-but then the numbers of tributes decreased so fast and they had to stage more reapings across the districts. A little girl was chosen for our district who was eleven, like Carrie, and as soon as her name was called out it hit me. I could repay you guys for your kindess to my sister and for his love to her. So I volunteered. Going in for one soul purpose. To keep you two alive. So here I'am," Reyna smiles weakly at me. "I still haven't located that career bitch who keeps harassing him yet though."

Jamica. I know Jamica must really love him because the side-effect of the lemon pills have worn off for the first set of tributes and yet she's still after him. But if she loved him _properly_ she would understand what he's going through with Kailana's death and leave him alone but she doesn't. If it was the other way around and he did love Jamica but she had died, Kailana would understand.

"Where is he anyway?" Reyna asks.

"Oh, Carrie's dead. . .he's been in the cave with her body for about ten minutes now. I think they'll be wanting us to bring her out soon for them to take her away," I say.

"Ok, who killed her! I'm going to introduce them to my little friends snap and neck," Reyna says, indicating to both her hands.

"Don't worry, Zeb took care of her," I say, pointing back to Teggs. Reyna looks over to Teggs and mutters, "Bitch," and then heads off in the direction of the cave. I follow close behind her and we both approach the cave entrance with caution. Zeb's passed out, probably from crying so much, so I take it upon myself to take Carrie out into the open. I carefully tiptoe over to her and carefully scoop her into a sort of bridal type lift. I gulp down the bile that rises in my throat when I see the the giant slit that Tegg's knife created. I carefully lie her down on her back, far away from Teggs, in the middle of the clearing. "Bye Carrie," I whisper, giving her a small district 12 salute before getting up and going into the cave, letting the single mockingjay sing it's collective note to signal that the hovercraft is going to pick her up.

I go back into the cave to find Reyna looking at Zeb's shoulder wound. "You do know this is infected right?" she asks.

"What? No it isn't!" I say, joining her at Zeb's side.

"Yeah it is," Reyna insists. "See those lines? That's blood poisoning."

_"Katniss, I know what blood poisoning looks like."_

"He's fine," I say, pulling the bandage back over the wound. I sit back against the cool cave wall and put my head in my hands.

"Getting too much for ya then?" Reyna asks.

"Huh?" I ask.

"Getting too similar to your parent's Hunger Games isn't it? The setting, the fatally injured ally, the cave, the star-crossed lovers from 10 and 5, your mother's blood stain, getting saved by me before that girl kills you because I owe you and Zeb a debt and the blood poisoning? Oh yeah, the gamemakers are trying to bring on a mental breakdown," Reyna says.

"But why?" I ask.

"Because they want your family to suffer," Reyna says.

"But why?" I say again.

"Because President Lynn wants to avenge her grandfather," Reyna explains. "And the Everlark family are the perfect people to make suffer. Your mother for being the mockingjay of the war and for the 'Nightlock' berries. Your father for being the one who was hardest to hate, for being strong enough to fight the tracker jacker venom and for loving your mother."

"What about me and Gale?" I ask.

"You and Gale?" Reyna looks sad. "For being born."

"For being born?" I frown.

"Because you were the happiest things in your parents lives," Reyna explains. "What would happen if you died? Through Lynn's eyes she thinks nothing could be much worse for them if you do. And she is right. That's what the death bounty's about."

"We don't derserve this," I whisper.

"Of course you don't," Reyna says, sitting beside me and enclosing me in a hug. "No-one does." I rest my head on her shoulder and straighten out my thoughts for a bit and try to pull myself together.

Ok, so using my parent's Hunger Games setting is an attempt to unnerve me. Then paying the tributes off to kill me is Lynn's way of making sure I die. Then once I'm dead they think my dad will try the suicide again but they think he'll suceed this time. Then they'll shove Gale in when he's old enough and another bounty will be given out for his death. Then mum will be on her own. I don't think mum could deal with another death. She couldn't. Granny Everdeen just died recently. So when it's said she'd have no-one, it's meant literally.

"Carrie," Zeb suddenly whispers in his sleep. Reyna crawls over to him and checks his pulse and the shoulder wound. I notice the lines are creeping over the shoulder and have reached his shoulder blade. If the gamemakers were told to replicate my parent's Hunger Games in every possible outlet then. . .

I quickly crawl over and press my hand against his forehead. He's absoloutly boiling. Fever.

"He's got a fever!" I say in a panic, grabbing the remaining backpacks and scrabbling round for a first aid kit. "Come on," I say through gritted teeth. "There was one in here somewhere!" I tip a dark blue bag upside down and a medical kit falls out. I rip it open with my teeth and chuck everything out until I find a small fever pill box. I hook his mouth open and put a pill in. "Your not dying on me Zeb," I say, as I gently pour some water in. "You can't." It seems Zeb is getting more of a rough time than me. I mean, the parent's Hunger Games issue is annoying to me but it doesn't bother me in a way that it would break me to a point of no repair.

But Zeb?

Zeb has been forced into a Hunger Games filled with the oppisote gender, he's fell in love and has lost her in the space of three days, been harassed by girls hocked up on lemon pills, had his sister shoved into the games with him, been speared through, his sister mudered and is near death himself. Why though?

I ask Reyna this and she stares at me like I just asked her why ants are so small. One eyebrow raised, the other furrowed in a deep frown.

"Did you really just ask me that?" she asks, a look on her face that shows she thinks that my head's full of air.

"Yeah," I frown. "Why?"

"You don't know," she says slowly, as if it's one of the most obvious things on the planet.

"Yes it seems like I don't know a lot doesn't it?" I say "Why? What's so important?"

"Oh your definetly the type who falls asleep during history class aren't you?" Reyna sighs.

"All the time. I contemplate bringing a pillow sometimes," I say.

"Then you don't know the complete history of the Walls family?"

"Now why would I know the history of Zeb's family?" I sigh.

"Because it's the law to learn the history of the first rebellion's failure?" Reyna's trying to jog my memory. "And the second one's success? Then _it's_ failure?" I continue to stare at her. What's she on about? Can't she just say what's she talking about.

"What?" I ask.

Reyna sighs, clearly exasperated. "Ok, I'll explain. Zeb's ancestors all played important parts in the rebellions. Very important parts. Pretty much anyone who had fought in the rebellion were killed apart from a selected few. I think his great grandfather or something was one of the top soliders. He killed many of snow's closest allies. I mean, in that being said it still doesn't seem like much. Not enough to make Zeb's life a living hell but apparently, people think that since your parent's rebellion failed and they haven't been strong enough to fight back when Lynn returned that Zeb's family are the only ones who can lead us out of the darkness. His parent's are near death, his sister was too young, so who do they expect to do it? Zeb. I mean, if Lynn was properly worried about it then she would have had him shot ages ago but I think she's teasing everyone who thinks this. By showing them that he can only withstand the same amount of pain as the rest of us and that he _won't_ be able to stop her."

"Haha very funny. What's the real reason?" I ask.

"Lynn wants Zeb to suffer Primrose. More than she wants your family to suffer. You really need to learn to listen more in school. People think he's capable of killing her. Who wouldn't want the person that everyone thinks is going to kill you to suffer? Don't panic though. Cuz' I'm here and your here. At the moment he is one of the most lonely people in Panem. We need to look after him because god knows no-one else will. It's not everyday that someone is more important to the Capitol govermant than the Everlark family."

"Ok, what's Everlark?" I ask.

"Oh, that's just a play on words between both your parent's surnames."

"Does Zeb know about all this?" I ask.

"Well, I know he knows his family history but I don't think he knows what people think about _him_," Reyna shrugs.

"Right, so Zeb, this Zeb here," I point to the unconcious lump on the floor. "Is supposed to get rid of Lynn and the Hunger Games all on his own?"

"That's what my teacher says," Reyna shrugs. "Snow and Lynn have done a lot to hurt the Walls family in the past. Torture, murder, rigging reapings so the descendants go into the games, trying desperately to stop the Walls blood line so their wouldn't be a teenage Walls child when Lynn is in power. But now there is one. And they're trying to kill him through suffering."

"Have they hurt Zeb in any way before the games?" I ask, intrigued. I've never enjoyed History but I'm really interested in hearing about the Zeb's past. The whole thing is riviting,

"Yes," Reyna replies, ripping a bit of fabric off the glove Zeb got from the two we recieved in our first pack, dappening it and dabbing clean the shoulder wound. "Loads of times"

"D-do you know how?" I ask.

"Yes," Reyna says again. "I was friendly with Carrie in the training center and she stayed at my room for a few hours everyday. You know, joking around, having fun, the usual stuff, but then she left one day. And a book fell out of her bag."

"A book?"

"Yes, a book. It was stuffed with pieces of crumpled up paper. Carrie's drawings. But when I got past them I found something else," Reyna explains.

"What?"

"Zeb's diary."

"And you read it?" I say slowly.

"What can I say? I'm a snoop," Reyna grins.

"So what did find?" I ask.

"Well, you see, at the start it was just harassment. He wrote about peacekeeper's bashing in his house windows, sticking fire crackers through the letterbox, making sure he recieved less tessare than what you and me would recieve."

"He took out tessare?" I ask.

"Yes, according to his book his family were so desperate for food that he signed up for tessare as soon as the games were reinstated. He also mentioned that Carrie was getting bullied by kids at school but they were just cruel children in her class. Anyway, I read through until I discovered something interesting," Reyna says. She stops for a moment to make sure Zeb's well and truely unconcious before continueing so I know whatever she's going to say can't be good.

"What did you find?" I ask.

"Well, about six months before the games he started mentioning a girl of his age, following him a lot. Like a stalker. But Zeb, being the goofball that he is, didn't think much of it. At one point, about two months later, he said that he seen her outside his house at three in the morning."

"Three?" I frown. I don't like the sound of this.

"Yes. And then, on the very last page I found a police report ticked away in a leather pocket."

"A police report? What for?" I ask.

"I remember everything word for word of it as I read it so many times to make sure I was reading it correctly. It said. . ."

I listen to her carefully. I can practically see the whole thing pan out before my eyes as Reyna reads the police report out loud. . .

_Zeb walks along the footpath in the dark, he's coming home from work on the Anderson's farm. The only thing guideing him along is the orange pools of light provided by the streetlamps. It had been raining quite bad earlier but now it's funneled down into a strong drizzle. He's not wearing a jacket because it had been sunny that morning and he had thought it would stay that way so he only put on the work regulation sleeveless denim jacket which did a fat lot of good gainst the rain and cold. He turns a corner and bumps into someone. "Sorry," he mumbles, scooting around the person he had bumped into. As he continues down the pavement the person speaks up. "You Zeb Walls?"  
He freezes on the spot and spins back round on his heel. "Yes," he replies. "Who wants to know?" He can't see who the person is as it's too dark so they step underneath a streetlamp. Her blonde hair is hanging loosely down her back and her green eyes have brown flecks in them. She's wearing a skirt and tank top but she seems immune to the cold. "Why do you kept following me?" Zeb asks. "Why were you at my house at three in the morning last week?"  
The girl swipes a loose strand of hair behind her ear and raises an eyebrow. "Your very forward aren't you? Straight to the point. Didn't even ask my name," she says. Zeb gives a hard stare for a moment before asking, "What's your name then?"  
"That's on a need to know basis," she grins. "But for now call me Cat. Obviously not my real name though."  
"Why do you keep following me?"  
"I've been paid to," Cat replies.  
"Why?"  
"My boss approached me one day and said, 'Cat, I've got a job for you. And it will _definetly_ be worth your while.' And then they told me that I had to follow a district 10 boy called Zeb Walls. At first I was pissed. I mean, of course I was going to do it, I needed the money. I didn't even know what you looked like though! How the hell was I going to find you I didn't know."  
"Where are you from?" Zeb asks.  
"I'm from the Capitol but I'm against self-alteration," Cat says."I was shoved into this district and forced to go and find a boy whose name I only knew to be Zeb Walls and that he was seventeen years old like me. So I walked about for a bit and asked a couple of people if they knew you. Eventually someone directed me to the farm you worked on. What is it? Andies? Andely's?"  
"Andersons," Zeb replies coldy.  
"And I followed the directions and asked the head farmer-nice man, bit odd-where you were and he told me you were in the barn sorting out bails of hay or something like that," Cat continues. "So, I went to the barn so I could get a clear look of who I had to follow and when I did-" Cat blows a raspberry and rubs her hands together in a patheic attempt at pretending she's cold-"I was beginning to not feel as pissed about the job than before."  
Zeb frowns and folds his arms against the cold. "What do you mean?"  
"You were in the barn as the farmer had said and you were feeding the horses some of the hay. I came in just as you were picking up a bail of hay but you had your back to me. I couldn't help thinking about what an amazing ass you had in those washed out jeans. And your arm's muscles were flexing under the strain of the five bails you were lifting at once. You know, I did always like your district for their male's uniforms," Cat says. Although she seems to be playing up about an attraction to Zeb something about her tone and the way she's speaking doesn't ring ture. "And so, I've been following you ever since. Part of my job," Cat winks. "But then I got a call a few days ago. Finally telling me something I understand getting paid for. I mean, I was just told to follow you at first. Not to gather info or anything. Just follow you. I didn't understand why I was getting paid just for that. Don't get me wrong though, I wasn't complaining. But _now_ I get it."  
"Care to explain some of it to me then?" Zeb asks.  
"Sure," Cat smiles. She then steps away from the streetlight and Zeb can't see her no more.  
"Cat?" Zeb asks. "Cat? Where'd you go?" He looks around in the dark but can't see or hear her anymore. "Cat?"  
"Time to do what I've been paid to do," Cat whispers into his ear, he spins round and she's not there.  
"What have you been paid for?" he asks. Suddenly, without warning, something pushes him against the wall to his right and he's face to face with Cat again. She keeps him pressed against the wall with her arm under his neck. "I've been paid to make you suffer you in the worst possible way."  
"W-what's the worst possible way?" Zeb gasps as he tries to get some air into his lungs.  
"Oh, you'll find out," Cat whispers. She uses her other arm to reach up and stroke his cheek."It's not fair on you but money's money."_

"Do you want me to keep going?" Reyna asks. "Because it does get bad."

"Yes, keep going. Maybe we can finally understand things from his past," I say. I want to understand Zeb's past whether it's bad or not. I know it's none of my buisness and all but I can't just let Reyna stop now. Who the hell is this Cat? What's she going to do? My curiousity will be the death of me someday.

"Are you sure?" Reyna asks, skim reading the rest of the report. I look at Zeb and swipe the hair out of his eyes.

"Yes," I say strongly, getting the image of where we left off into my head.

_"What were you paid to do?" Zeb asks her. Cat suddenly presses her lips against his. Zeb tries to push her off but he's worried about hurting her so he doesn't push hard enough and she stays against him. He clamps his teeth shut and doesn't let her tongue in. He can feel her licking his teeth nonetheless. "Ok, I think you need to breathe," Cat says after what feels like an age. She lets him go and lets him gulp in some air. Cat looks around for the moment.  
"Haha, you've been very funny but I think I should be getting home now," Zeb goes to leave but Cat just laughs and pulls him back. "I'm getting paid whether you like it or not," she hisses. She drags him into the abadoned alleyway that no-one ever peers through anymore. "Now I can do it the easy way or the hard way. But, then again, there is probably no easy way in the first place as I've got specific orders to make sure your broken after this," Cat slams him back against another wall and starts kissing him again.  
"Will you get _off?!"_ Zeb says through her mouth.  
"I need the money!" Cat says, letting him go again.  
"What is it your getting paid to do then?!"  
"Are you normally this stupid?" Cat snaps, kicking him in the back of his knee.  
"What the hell!?" Zeb shouts as he doubles over in pain and falls to the ground. Kat climbs ontop of him and laughs. "Sorry about this by the way. Just doing what I'm paid for," she says with a wink.  
"What are you being paid for?!" Zeb asks.  
"It's good thing your hot cuz' your as quick as a sloth," Cat sighs. She looks at her watch. "Ok, enough talking. Time to work."  
An hour later a boy lies in the old abandoned alleyway. Lying in the gutter, soaked, bleeding, and sobbing. The rain had began again half an hour previous. No-one heard him screaming for the past hour. No-one heard him cry. He lay there all night and when he finally got home he told his parents he'd gotten in a fight. He wrote out a fake police report so he could write what happened and he left it in his diary where no-one would find it. He never told anyone. And no-one ever found out._

"Oh my god," I say. "It's not even an offical police report?"

"No, it isn't. We're the first to find out," Reyna says.

Then I remember. When Carrie was trying to kill me and Zeb had her pinned down, she kicked him and he screamed louder than anyone normally would. I never thought much about it. Now I understand why. It wasn't Carrie's fault. No-one was told about what happened to him so how would she know not to kick him?

"Oh, Zeb," I say, giving him a hug. After about a minute I hear a groan. "Primrose?" I hear Zeb mumble.

"Yes Zeb, it's me," I say.

"Carrie," he whimpers.

"I'm sorry Zeb, we had to let them take her, I'm so sorry," I reply, hugging him a bit tighter. The fever pill is working a little bit but not by much. He's not boiling anymore but he's still hot.

"Do you want me to skin that?" Reyna asks. I look to where she's pointing and I see the rabbit whose throat I slit. I forgot to pick up the rabbit by the river when we heard Carrie scream.

"Who's that?!" Zeb asks in a paniced tone.

"Shh Zeb it's fine, it's just Reyna. She's from district five. She's our ally now. She saved my life. She's safe," I explain quickly. I can see Reyna's about to point out that she's Kailana's sister but I shake my head as I don't think Zeb could handle that sort of information at the moment. "Yes Reyna you can skin that. We'll need to eat soon anyway." It's starting to get dark so the pictures of the dead will be projected into the sky soon. "You hungry Zeb?" There's a sniffle and then I feel him nod into my arm so I take it as a yes. "Ok, we'll eat soon."

"How's the shoulder wound?" Reyna asks. "Now that we know there's blood poisoning we'll have to watch it regularly."

"Blood poisoning!?" Zeb yelps, going to get up.

"No, no, no, Zeb your fine," I say, pulling him back down and giving Reyna a death glare for mentioning it.

"What?" Reyna asks in suprise. "He was going to find out sometime."

"Doesn't blood poisoning kill?" Zeb asks.

"Don't focus on that Zeb, your gonna get better," I say.

"Hey," Reyna stands beside me, "You got a knife?"

"Sure," I say, taking one of the knives that Meladina gave me and handing it to her. I turn back to Zeb and see he's staring right at Reyna. His eyes are wide and his mouth's hanging open. Oh, oh, oh! He can see her now.

"Kailana?" he whispers.

"Oh, no Zeb, Reyna is Kailana's twin," I say.

"Twin?" Zeb frowns. "Oh yeah! She mentioned you. She told me that if I ever won and I met you in district 5 during the Victory Tour to tell you that she loves you and you were the best sister ever."

"Ah! Thanks!" Reyna smiles, clearly biting back tears. "Now the lemon pills are beginning to work on me so I'm going to skin this outside." Reyna gives a grin and an old military salute before going out. I ease Zeb to the floor and give him a drink of water. We sit in silence for a couple of minutes and I sort out the mess that Zeb and Carrie made earlier.

Once Reyna returns she makes a fire and cooks the meat. After we all have eaten, well Reyna and I had eaten, I had to threaten Zeb on mulitple occasions to eat what was put in front of him and I ended up practically shoving it down his throat as he was refuseing to eat, the dead were projected into the sky.

District 7, Carrie, Sal and Ophelia.

We all fall silent and I stare at my feet for a couple of minutes. "I'm going to go outside for a bit," Reyna says, standing up and leaving the cave. Zeb and I don't speak to each other for a while so when he does speak up it makes me jump.

"Carrie would have two birthdays every year. Her offical one and the pretend birthdays I held for her every year. It was just a bit of fun. I would chose a random day every year to make her pretend birthday and I would treat the day like it was her proper birthday. You know, homemade cards, gifts, I'd ask mum if she could have a few friends over. It wouldn't be much but she loved it all the same," he says to me. "Then, last year I woke up one day and she was sitting on her bed with a small package in her hands. I asked her what it was and she told me it was about time I had a pretend birthday. The small package she had was this," he pulls a small necklace out from under his shirt. Was he always wearing that? "It's my district token. It has a photo of mum, dad and Carrie in it." He opens it up and I scoot over beside him and look at the photos.

He's his mum's double. He has her ginger hair and her green eyes. His dad then is a double of Carrie. Blonde hair and brown eyes. Carrie's laughing and his parent's are beaming. He snaps the necklace closed again and puts it back under his shirt.

I check his temperature again and give him another fever pill. "You Ok?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zeb says with a wince.

"Your really not are you?" I ask.

"I'm fine," he says again.

"Stop lying," I sigh. "Your fooling no-one. It's Ok to say your not you know. You just lost your sister, you've got blood poisoning, your not Ok are you?" Zeb stays silent for a moment.

"No, I'm not," he finally says.

I nod and check his shoulder. The blood poisoning lines have reached the middle of his back and have spread out across his chest like small, thin, branches. I never watched Zeb properly before when I examined his wound in the past but I just happen to look up as I pull on the two oppisote edges of the wound a bit with my thumbs to see if there is a deeper infection. He has his eyes closed and he's wincing in something that isn't pain. He's terrified.

"Zeb? Zeb? What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing's wrong Primrose, you near done?" he asks back.

"Almost finished. I just need to check the lines on your back again for inflamation," I say, crawling round to his back.

Ok, so he's scared of me touching him. Well, probably not just me. He didn't seem too keen on Jamica doing so at the cornucopia either. It's understandable given what Reyna told me. Imagine it though. Four months and he hasn't breathed a word. I mean, there are probably others who have went longer without speaking about things like that but still. It must be eating him alive inside. His parents don't even know. I mean, his_ parents!_ Maybe if he finally spoke to someone about it. . .

"Zeb, you know I'm not going to hurt you right?" I say as I examine the poisoning lines with my eyes only. Zeb stays silent for moment.

"Of course I know your not going to hurt me," he replies.

"I need to touch the poison lines for proper examination," I say. "Is that alright?"

"Yeah, why would you have to ask?" Zeb says, a scared edge to his voice.

"With Jamica and all, I don't want to touch you without your consent no more," I reply.

"Don't worry about it," Zeb mutters.

"Zeb, I know about Cat," I say, deciding to get straight to the point as I don't know how long we'd be here if I tried to get him to say it to me without my asking.

He freezes rock solid.

"You haven't told anyone Zeb. But Reyna stumbled upon your diary and. . .you know. She didn't mean any harm by reading it. She's just a nosy person but she told me about the police report. But don't you see? It means you can talk to me about it." He doesn't say anything. "You can talk to me about what happened. Get it off your chest. About how you felt and stuff. I mean, I'm not a phycaratrist but-"

"Rain."

"Huh?"

"It had been raining. I ended up soaked in the end. I had only taken an extra shift at the farm. I never thought about it being dark when I would have to walk home. There was always rumours about pedaphiles walking the streets at night but no-one ever took it seriously. Not that Cat was one of them anyway as she said she was paid in the first place. She kept mentioning it." He stops a moment and his breathing is speeding up a bit.

"Zeb, your doing great," I say, crawling back round to face him again. I begin dressing the wound again. "You can stop anytime you want."

"I had been planning one of Carrie's pretend birthdays. It was going to be the next day. I bought her a hairband with my once a month pay and I had found an old ribbon that I tied into a bow and stuck it on. I had seen Cat before. Outside my house early in the morning. I h-had just thought it was a concidence. Just passing by, you know? Shows how stupid I'am doesn't it?"

"Your not stupid Zeb. Maybe your just a bit slower on a couple of things," I ask.

"As a sloth," Zeb mutters. "She said that." I pull his shirt back over his head and pat his shoulder. "It was was terrifying Primrose. Absoloutly terrifying. I had always grown up thinking that the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with was going to be my first time. I mean, who wouldn't want that?"

I think back to when I was fifteen. Maurice and I knew we loved each other. He was my one and only time. I love him with all my heart. I don't know what it's like to be with anyone else but Maurice. I can't even imagine it.

"But I end up being violated in an abandoned alleyway. Left in the dirt and the rain. Kat left me feeling like the dirty one. Primrose, I went to the doctor after two weeks. I didn't tell them what hapened. I just schelduled an appointment. Told them I'd gotten in a fight just like I did with my parents."

"And?" I ask.

"I can't have children now."

"What?" I ask.

"I was too injured. I can't have kids."

"Oh Zeb," I enclose him in a hug. "I'm so sorry." He can't have children? Poor soul. He's volunteraily spoken to me about all of this. Maybe I should trust him with something too.

"I lost a baby," I say.

"What?" he asks, pulling away from the hug for a moment.

"I was fifteen. My boyfriend and I . . .we. . . let's just say had 'relations' and I ended up pregnant. We were both so excited. We were going to have a little boy. I insisted on naming him after Maurice's dad, Finnick. I ended up having a miscarriage. Too far on for the baby to dissipate on it's own. I had to give birth to him. My little Finnick. I never even got to hold him."

"I'm sorry Primrose," Zeb says.

"Oh you don't need to be," I sigh. "It's been nearly two years now. It's fine."

Zeb and I have something in common. We've both been through something horrific. We both understand what it's like. I mean, I don't think me losing my baby is as bad as what he's been through. They can kill him on the spot if they feel like it. And the hardest thing to know is that we both can't get out of this alive.

**A/N:Well, there you go! Hope nobody hates me for what I did with Cat but I wanted Zeb to have a bit of a corrupted past too.  
Also, don't put all your eggs in one basket on your opinion of Cat. She's not all she seems and you'll find out why later ;)  
Reviwers get cyber-hugs!**


	20. The Rabbit Whisperer

**A/N:Ok, I'm hoping this chapter is a bit lighter than the past few. Primrose gets annoited a new nickname here by Reyna. Enjoy! :D  
Disclaimer:I sadly to not own the Hunger Games. A girl can dream though :)**

Chapter Twenty-The rabbit whisperer

When you learn things about people you can't look at them in the same way. I now can't look at Zeb without trying to figure out what Cat looks like. I can't look at him without wanting to ask if he's Ok every five minutes. Worst of all, I can't look at him without thinking what life would be like not being able to have children. I may have lost my child but at least I have him in my memories. Even if he was a still born.

Reyna returned soon after Zeb and my's conversation. We both do our best to care for Zeb but there was one thing we know and we don't know how to stop it.

Zeb's dying.

His fever is gone way beyond boiling point that, frankly, I'm suprised he hasn't turned into a fried egg yet, the blood poisoning lines covered his entire back and have reached down his stomach and chest, avoiding his heart as if it wants him to endure the worst possible pain before it decides to reach his heart and kill him, and he can't even stand up on his own.

"Ok Zeb, open up _now!"_ I demand the next morning. Reyna and I decided to finish off the rabbit from last night and go hunting later but Zeb was refusing to eat. "Zeb, eat it _now_!" I snap. He keeps his mouth shut and has his eyes closed. I know he's awake and he's pretending to sleep. I can't let him miss one meal. He's way too sick for that. "Zeb eat the rabbit before I shove it down my throat with my bare hands!" I say. Nothing.

"Let me try," Reyna sighs. She takes the rabbit from me and hovers above Zeb for a moment before stamping on his foot. His eyes shoot open and he opens his mouth to groan in pain but he doesn't have a chance to before she shoves the rabbit into his mouth. He goes to spit it out but Reyna slaps her hands over his mouth and pinches his nose shut. "Swallow it or you'll suffocate!" she laughs.

"If he suffocates, I'll bloody murder you," I snap.

"Take a chill pill Prim. See? He's chewing!" Reyna smiles, letting him breath once he swallows it.

"You called me Prim," I frown.

"Yeah," Reyna says, taking a bite out of her own bit of rabbit. "So?"

"No-one ever calls me Prim," I reply. _Except Maurice._ No Primrose! Don't think of Maurice. You'll get upset.

"Yeah, well, I just did," Reyna grins.

I remember the photos of my auntie Prim that mum showed me. When you come to think of it, if you looked at the photos of mum and dad when they were teenagers, you'd think Prim was my dad's sister. Not my mum's. That's just the merchant qualities that she got off grandmother. I guess I take merchant qualities too as my dad's family were bakers and everyone claims I look like him.

"I'm going to go wash," I say, standing up and leaving the cave. I wash my hair in the stream and comb it out with my fingers. I'm about to tie my hair back up into a braid when my elastic snaps in my hands. "Really?!" I snap, ruffling my hair out in anger. I hate having it down. I wash the grime from under my nails and go back into the cave. "Nice Hair rosey," Reyna scoffs. She's not being snide, she's just joking around.

"Shut up," I laugh. Zeb's dead to the world again. "Did you get some water in him?" I ask.

"He choked on it," Reyna shrugs. "We can try again later."

"God damn it Zeb!" I say to the unconcious boy. "If you keep getting on like this then I'm gonna lose you!"

"It's just water Primrose, he can get some when he wakes up," Reyna says.

"But what if he doesn't? What if you _had_ to give him that water for him to survive and now that you haven't he's gonna die," I snap.

"But he's not," Reyna frowns. "What's up with you?"

I don't know. What _is_ wrong with me? It was just some water that he wouldn't take. I wave my hand dismissivly at Reyna. "Nothing."

"Wanna go hunting?" Reyna asks.

"What about him? I thought Carrie would be safe in the cave but Teggs ended up killing her."

Reyna bites her lip in deep thought. "Uh. . .you wanna go on your own then?" she asks. "You'd have more of a chance than me at catching something."

"I guess so. . ." I eye Zeb's bow and arrows. "Maybe I could try and shoot something."

"Good thing Zeb's unconcious then. He'd probably have a heartattack seeing you shoot," Reyna muttered.

"Hahaha your hilarious," I say drily, picking up the bow and arrows.

"Do your mother proud!" Reyna calls as I exit the cave again.

"Will do," I call back.

I fumble with the bow and arrows outside until I have a proper hold on them. "Ok wildlife, heeerreee's Primrose!" I laugh and then set off into the forest a bit. I'm not far in when a rabbit comes into view. I fumble again to get into shooting poistion and I slip on some mud and the arrow goes skyhigh. I quickly roll out of it's way as it makes it's descent down again and lodges into the ground. When I stand back up the rabbit is looking at me, it's head tilted slightly. "Shut up, I meant to do that," I snap at it. It continues to stare at me. "Well your not that much of a clever one yourself. A clever rabbit would have ran by now before I could load another arrow but your just staying . . .I'm talking to a rabbit?!" The rabbit is still sitting there. How bloody stupid is it?! "Hey Thumper," I grin, approaching the rabbit carefully and scooping it up into my arms. "Your a cutie aren't you?" The rabbit who I've baptised as Thumper nuzzles into my arm. "You know, I had a carpet that looked like you," I say as I make my way back into the cave. "Hey guys! I've got one raw!" I joke as I enter the cave. "Guys?"

The cave is eerily quiet. Neither Zeb nor Reyna are there. "Zeb? Reyna?" I call, letting Thumper go. "Heeellloooo?" I search every inch of the cave and find nothing. Something's happened. Zeb's too weak to move on his own and Reyna had made it clear that she owed him a debt of protection so she wouldn't have left him. There was no cannons so they're not dead. Great, another kidnapping. "Ok Primrose, what do you do?" I ask. I decide to scan the cave for clues and it's a good thing I did as I notice something written on the cave wall with a rock.

Hey Primrose!  
If your reading this then you made it back to the cave. *sighs in anger* Well, I'm guessing you've noticed the absence of your two friends. Reyna and Zeb? Yeah, well, we've got them and if you want them back then your going to have to come and get them.

Jamica ;)

Shit

**A/N:Pardon the last bit of language but this is the only reaction I could think of. Reviewers get cyber-hugs :D**


	21. Short Term Alliance

**A/N:Ok, here's chapter twenty! Enjoy!  
Thank you to Skylar Pederson and TheHungerGamesFan01 for your support!  
Disclaimer:I don't own Hunger Games but in september I will own the DVD! Wahahaha!**

Chapter Twenty one-Short Term Alliance

I have never ran faster before in my life. Never. I fly through the trees and foilage, tripping over twigs and branches and even my own feet a few times. I want to scream out their names for a reply but that would draw attention to myself and, besides, I have a good idea where they are anyway. I reach the edge of forest by the cornucopia clearing and stop quickly before I stumble out. Yeah, there's Jamica, Verma and Waness, an angry Reyna and a dying Zeb. I'm guessing they want me to come out and try and save them so they can trip over each other for the death bounty. No, I'll have to think of a more practical plan. I decide to watch them like Meladina, Carrie and I did a few days ago when the careers only had Zeb.

Reyna's sitting infront of Zeb, who was lying against the cornucopia, half dead to the world and half concious, with her arms crossed and a defiant expression on her face with Jamica kneeling in front of her.

"Haha, your funny Jamica," Reyna snaps. "Like I'm going to let you near him."

"Look ginger snap, I don't want to hurt him. In fact, this pill will help him. Look at him for god's sake! He's dying," Jamica says.

"And you think I should trust you?" Reyna snaps.

"No, but he's dying with no hope so, if I was going to give him a pill that would kill him what would be the point? Just give him this and he'll survive." She presses a pill of some sort into Reyna's hand. She raises an eyebrow before examininig it and deciding to give it to him. I swear to god, if that kills him I'm going to kill her.

Almost as soon as it's down Zeb's throat he jolts awake, fully aware, making Reyna jump. "What happened!" He demands in shock.

"What the hell was that?" Reyna asks an amused Jamica.

"My district token," she replies.

"But your not allowed to bring weapons or medication," Reyna snaps.

"Yeah, well, my token inspector had a thing for me. Nice man, not my type though," Jamica shrugs.

"Why are we here?" Zeb asks.

"_Somebody_ decided to hold us randsom against Primrose for the death bounty," Reyna sighs.

"Oh brilliant," Zeb says sarcastically. "Just what I need. Back in the aslyum."

"Shut up," Verma shouts from where she's sitting.

"Oh, we thought you enjoyed last time so much that we'd bring you back," Waness says, taking a bite out of an apple.

"Yeah, getting speared through at the end was _very_ enjoyable," Zeb says back.

"Lucky I decided to give you my token then isn't it?" Jamica says. Reyna still sits between them and I'm confident that she won't let Jamica anywhere near Zeb. Suddenly I feel something cold against my neck. "Hey guys!" Someone from behind me shouts. "I've got her!" I glance down and see a sword being pressed against my neck. Not again! I gulp and breathe out slowly. "Come on district 12," the person says, pushing me out into the open.

"Primrose!" both Reyna and Zeb say at the same time. The sword is removed and I run towards them. "You guys Ok?" I ask them. They both nod. I turn round to see who the sword person was as it couldn't be a career. All the careers are with Zeb and Reyna.

I think it's the girl from district 3. She has blonde hair like me, but is dyed as you can see the brown roots showing, that is tied into a tight ponytail, green eyes and is a couple inches taller than me.

"What's your name then?" I ask her.

"I'm Annabelle from district 3," she replies. Yes! I was right!

"Ok guys, I'm guessing you all want to have a go for the money then?" I ask.

"Haha, don't flatter yourself," Verma replies.

"We all need to join forces for a bit," Waness says.

"What?" Reyna says. "Join forces with _you?"_

"Your joking," Zeb laughs.

"No, we're serious," Verma snaps.

"Why in the world would we join forces with you then?" I ask.

"You know the rules?" Jamica asks.

"What? Which one?" I frown.

"Don't step off the podium before sixty seconds is up?" Reyna frowns.

"No," Jamica sighs. "The other one?"

"What?" I ask.

"Which one?" Reyna asks.

"Oh! I know!" Zeb says, clicking his fingers. "The unspoken one? Of not eating each other? Like, don't go cannibal!"

"Yes," Jamica says, clicking her fingers as well. "That one."

"What about it?" I ask, sitting down on the grass beside Reyna.

"Well, you know district eight?" Verma asks.

"Not personally no," I reply.

"Well, her name is Lata and just yesterday that girl Ophelia murdered district 7, yes?" Waness says.

"Yes," Reyna answers.

"Well, she did it in the cornucopia clearing right here," Jamica begins. "When we weren't there. We were away searching for you Primrose, you know, for the bounty? Yeah, well, when we came back we saw district 7 lying there dead and you know, it was like, 'yeah well, so what else is new?' and we were going to clear off for the hovercraft to come."

"And?" I frown.

"We were half-way to the forest when we heard someone else running through," Verma continues. "When we turned to look we saw it was district 8, Lata. I was about to kill her but I stopped when she started_ eating_ district 7."

"What?!" Zeb, Reyna and I shout.

"District 8 has gone cannibal on us," Verma sighs.

"So we decided to gather everyone together so we can get her ourselves cuz' she's like, really strong. We need Annabelle because she has brute force and is brilliant in combat, Reyna because you can snap necks, Zeb for your archery," Waness says.

"And me because I'm incidental," I sigh.

"Well you haven't even killed anyone yet!" Jamica snaps.

"And?" I snap back. "Does it matter?"

I hadn't realized I hadn't killed anyone yet. It just never came to it for me. I mean, Zeb's first kill was because Nana killed Zara, then Jamica forced one on him, then after that I don't think he really thought about it. Well, he obviously _thinks_ about it because you can't kill without thinking about it but they were all within reason. He killed the girl at the cornucopia because she speared him through and he killed Teggs because she murdered Carrie. And Reyna pretty much just snaps people's necks without a second thought. I guess it's something to be proud of. Making it to the final eight and not having killed anyone. Still early days though.

"Well, yes, your incidental. Maybe we can kill you for the money later on but you could be useful for holding the coats or something," Jamica says.

"Oh lovely," I say sarcastically. "I'm the coat hanger."

"Glad we're all on the same page then," Waness grins, pulling her jacket off and chucking it over my head.

"Haha," I say, not bothering to remove the coat.

"So why are you so desperate to get rid of this cannibal then?" Zeb asks. "Won't the gamemakers take care of it if it gets too far?"

"We can't risk it," Verma shrugs.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Reyna asks.

"Nope, but when we find her it would be easier for us all if we just kill her," Jamica says.

"It's not like you'd give her a chance anyway," Zeb mutters.

"Oh shut up," Waness snaps.

"Leave them alone," Jamica sighs, nudging Waness.

"You can shut up and all," Waness snaps. "Just cuz' you have a crush on arrow guy."

"Ok, is it cowboy or arrow guy cuz' I'm getting real confused," Zeb asks.

"Meh, it varies," Verma shrugs.

"How about calling him _Zeb?"_ I say. "You know, for many reasons, one being it's his _name?"_

"It's not even that hard to say!" Reyna says. "One syllable. Z-E-B."

"Don't bother," Zeb sighs. "I spent half the night trying to get it into their thick skulls at the cornucopia."

"If your gonna call him arrow kid or cowguy or whatever, I can be snap neck and she can be Rosey Posey," Reyna grins.

"Really?" I sigh, pulling the jacket off my head. "Rosey Posey? Rosey _posey_?!_ That_ is what you come up with?"

"Hello, cannibal? On the loose? Like, right _now,_" Verma interuppts.

"Oh you still here?" Reyna asks.

"Oh go do something useful," Verma snaps.

"I'am!" Reyna protests. "I have decided to help you sorry careers and your cannibal problem. I think that's very useful indeed."

"Maybe we should have just tried to catch Lata on our own," Waness sighs.

"Hey!" Reyna snaps. "At least you've now got a skilled neck snapper, an archer and-"

"A coat hanger," I sigh.

"I think you'll be a brillant coat hanger Rosey Posey," Zeb grins, patting my back.

"Ah thanks," I grin back.

"Oh Careeeeersss! Priiimmmrooosse!" a new voice in the woods call.

"Wh-what's that?" I ask as a shiver runs through my spine.

"Reeeyyynnnaaa, Zeeebbbb! Annnaaabbbbeeellllee!" The voice continues.

Verma looks grave. "That's Lata."

**A/N:Oh yes, a cannibal! I wanted to put one in from the start but I couldn't figure out when. So we now have Lata the Cannibal. What's gonna happen? Find out tomorrow! Reviewers get cyber-hugs! **


	22. An alliance made in hell

**A/N:What happens when you alley three careers with four non-careers? Lots of argueing of course! Except for Annabelle. She has her own agenda. . .  
Disclaimer:I do not own the Hunger Games and I sadly do not write for profit. I'll leave all the clever profit making to Suzanne Collins ;)**

Chapter Twenty Two-An alliance made in Hell

We all set off into the woods almost immediately to catch Lata. We all agreed that the sooner we kill her the sooner we can hate each other again. It doesn't help the mission that we can't spend five minutes without agrueing over something.

"Look, it's obvious chemistry!" Verma snaps.

"Chemistry?" Reyna scoffs. "That's a laugh."

"It's _obvious_ though!" Waness puts in.

"Your all deluded," Zeb sighs.

"Look, whether the Doctor loves River song or not doesn't matter as he obviously loved Rose in the past way more anyway," Jamica snaps.

"Oh come _on!_ Flesh eating cannibal on the loose and your discussing the dynamics of _Doctor Who?_" I ask.

"It's a very important topic!" Waness protests.

"Your not serious are you?" I sigh.

"You obviously live in a cave then," Verma says to me. "I mean, you obviously don't have an opinion on the matter."

"Shut up," I snap.

"Don't even get me started on how Gwen and Captain Jack are made for each other in _Torchwood_!" Waness puts in.

"Oh come on, now your just be stupid," Zeb sighs.

"I think your talking about Jack and _Ianto_, yes?" Reyna puts in.

"Oh for god's sake," I sigh. "Hello people?! Cannibal! _Focus!"_

"Ok, arguement _over_!" Jamica snaps.

"Janto is still the best," Reyna murmers.

There's a rustling in the bushes and we all stop dead.

"What's that?" Waness whispers.

"It's the tooth fairy," Reyna sighs.

"What?" Waness frowns.

"My god Waness, use your friggin' brain. 1) I was being sarcastic. 2)There's no-one else in the arena. So what do you think it is?" Reyna asks.

"Lata?" Waness guesses.

"Give the woman a medal," Reyna sighs.

"Come on Reyna, play nice," Zeb sighs.

"I don't see why I should," Reyna mumbles.

"Just be nice," Zeb sighs, patting her shoulder.

And then Jamica starts humming 'I will always love you'.

"Are you serious Jamica?" Verma snaps. "More singing?"

"Come on! We need to lighten the mood," Jamica snaps back.

"I think it will take a lot more than humming to lighten this mood," Waness grumbles.

"Gosh, this is real fun isn't it?" I say sarcastically.

"Very," Zeb agrees. "Maybe later we can watch grass grow."

"Or paint dry," I suggest.

"Hey, maybe we could all eat some cinnimon later and see if that'll be fun," Reyna puts in.

"Do you non-careers ever stop moaning?" Verma sighs.

"Nope," Reyna, Zeb and I all say at once.

We all stop agrueing as the rustling starts up again. A girl comes into view and I immediately know it's Lata. She's the red head who was with Sal before Verma attacked. Her hair is round her shoulders, all messy and wild, her eyes are sea blue with a pair of sea green glasses sitting askew on her nose and there's blood in the corners of her mouth. She looks rabid.

"I'm guessing your Lata," I say.

"Don't talk to the cannibal," Verma hisses. "Let's just kill the nutball and run."

"Give her a chance!" I hiss back.

"Give her a chance," Verma mimicks in a high pitched tone.

"So are you Lata?" I ask, ignoring Verma.

"Yes, I'm Lata," rabid gal grins, wiping the blood from the corners of her mouth.

"And you've decided it's a good lifestyle choice to eat people?" Reyna frowns.

"Yes, I have," Lata replies.

"I'm just going to say right now that I don't taste good at all," Zeb says. "All bone and gristle."

"Seriously Zeb?" I sigh.

"What? I don't want to be eaten," Zeb says.

"Look, if we're getting eaten, _your_ my sheild cowboy," Waness says.

"And we're back to cowboy," Zeb sighs.

"You know, I like cowboy," Reyna grins. "Maybe I'll start calling you that too."

"Please don't," Zeb says.

"I think I will," Reyna grins.

"Brilliant," Zeb says sarcastically.

"Physcho killing cannibal on the loose and your argueing over _nicknames_?" I snap.

"Yes indeed Rosey Posey," Reyna says.

"Oh for the love of god stop mucking about the lot of you!" Verma snaps.

"Guys? We have a problem," Jamica says.

"What?" Verma,Reyna Zeb and I ask.

"Lata's eating Waness."

We all spin round and I gag in repulsion. Waness is lying on the ground and Lata is tearing away her neck with her teeth and Jamica and Annabelle are standing close by looking stunned.

"Reminds me of Enobaria," I murmer as I slowly approach them. "Lata?" Lata's head shoots up and I feel sick as I can see Waness' flesh and blood in her teeth. "Verma, tend to Waness' neck." A cannon goes off and makes us jump. "Stratch that," I sigh.

"Ok, who's next?" Lata grins, pulling a hunk of flesh out of Waness' neck and taking a bite out of it. I can vaguely hear Jamica retch behind me. I swallow the bile rising in my own throat and stand my ground. No doubt everyone's watching this. An event like this will have all the kids home from school, workers sent home, everyone glued to their screens. Just to see what we're going to do.

"Him! Take him!" Verma shouts, pulling Zeb by the collar and putting him in front of her.

"Seriously Verma? Some career you are," I sigh, slapping her hands away from Zeb's collar.

"If anything you can have her," Reyna says, pointing to Verma. "She's being a coward."

"Me? A _coward?_" Verma sounds apalled. "What about her," she points at Jamica. "_She's_ the one retching her guts up. Take her."

"Nobody's taking anyone!" I snap.

"Well, I'm hungry," Lata snaps, chucking the rest of Waness' neck meat down onto the ground. "And she doesn't taste nice."

"Sorry, we're a bit out of date," I say. "Off the menu. Resturant closed. Bye-bye." I give a small wave. Lata doesn't move. "And do you really think that's going to stop me?" she asks. "This is the Hunger Games, I'm hungry, there's six perfectly healthy tributes in front of me. What's a girl gonna do?"

I turn round and see Jamica holding a slingshot, Annabelle, whose been strangely quiet, in a defence stance, Verma holding a spear, Reyna cracking her knuckles, Zeb in shooting position with his bow and arrows and me, in the middle, doing nothing but trying to reason with the person in the wrong. Just like. . .

Just like my father.

No weapons, no threats, just words. Just like my dad always did.

"Lata? Lata, listen to me," I say. "We all are in these games to win them. Which does mean killing each other for our own survival but you've decided to go cannibal. Which is completely your choice. But can I ask you one thing? Haven't you stopped to consider the heartbreak these kid's families would have to go through if you ate them? What if I decided I wanted to eat you? Would you want that heartbreak on your family? Bad enough I killed you but I'm eating your flesh too so they won't have much of their child left to come home to them."

Lata looks conflicted. The rabid look in her eyes fading. Waness' blood dripping silently from her fingernails to the ground.

"My-my grandmother would have no-one. She wouldn't even be able to see me. . .if I died. . .and you ate me. . ." Lata trails off. A glazed look takes over her eyes and she seems to be in a daze when the spear suddenly goes through her heart. I spin round and glare at Verma.

"How dare you Verma!" I scream as Lata's canon fires. "She was going to stop!"

"How do you know?" Verma snaps.

"I could tell!" I scream.

"It's the Hunger Games get over it!" Verma snaps back. "Now see ya I'm leaving." She then takes off into the woods and doesn't look back. Annabelle, Reyna, Zeb, Jamica and I all stand there in silence for about five minutes before someone speaks.

"Well, that's that then," Annabelle sighs.

"Guess the alliance is over then," Jamica says, swinging back and forth on her feet.

"I guess," Zeb shrugs, slinging the sheath of arrows onto his back.

"So what should we do?" Reyna frowns. "Should we go our seperate ways and then try to kill each other or should we just fight it out now?"

"We could try for the money," Annabelle suggests, gesturing towards me.

"Don't be stupid Annabelle," Jamica snaps.

"Hey! We might as welll," Annabelle snaps back. Zeb and Reyna have already taken a step forward and are standing in front of me. "Are you gonna try and stop me?"

Jamica looks conflicted. She's looking from Annabelle to Zeb to Reyna and then to me. I can tell by her expression that a million things are going through her head at once. It's probably obvious what's she going to do anyway. Kiss then kill Zeb, kill me for the money, probably let Annabelle kill Reyna and then run off into the woods.

"Yes," Jamica suddenly says. Wait, what?

"I'd be very careful before you say that," Annabelle says.

"I'am careful," Jamica replies. "And I'am going to stop you."

"Oh yeah?" Annabelle growls. She digs her hand into her pocket and pulls out a knife. What is it with hiding knives in pockets? It's starting to get annoying. "I guess killing you will mean one less person in the way."

"Just get on with it yeah?" Jamica sighs. Annabelle takes a step foward and Jamica takes a step back. "I've had enough. I don't want to be a career anymore. I don't want to kill anyone anymore. Primrose Mellark is a wonderful person and so is her family. You have no right to kill her. No-one does. I made Zeb kill that poor girl from district 9 and I never even flinched. Never realized the effects of what I'd done. Why do we have to kill? If we have any hope of getting rid of these games then we need Primrose alive!"

"_No_," Annabelle snaps.

"Then just kill me then!" Jamica snaps back. "I'd rather die than kill anyone else."

"Gosh I would have made a better career than you," Annabelle sighs. "I can kill you, then Rosey, then Snap Neck, then cowboy."

"Kill any of them and I will kill you!" Jamica shouts, her voice wobbling.

"How can you kill me if I kill you first?" Annabelle asks. She grins and lodges the knife in Jamica's heart. Jamica falls to her knees and starts to laugh. "Jamica? Jamica you Ok?" I ask, getting onto my knees beside her.

"I'll be fine," Jamica grins. She reaches up and pulls Annabelle down to eye-level by her jacket lapel. "Never stab the girl who was trusted with the only gun in the arena." She then pulls a handgun out of her backpocket and shoots Annabelle up the chin.

"God!" Reyna shouts as blood spatters everywhere. Jamica drops the gun and goes to fall on the ground but Zeb catches her before she does. "You saved Primrose's life," he says to her.

Jamica laughs weakly. "Well, I had to try and do something. I'm sorry about annoying you so much Zeb."

"Oh don't worry about that now," Zeb says.

"I'am sorry though," she insists.

"It's Ok Jamica," Zeb replies, planting a small kiss on her forehead. Jamica gives him one last smile before her eyes role back into her head. We all stare at the two dead bodies until the canons go and snaps us out of it.

"I've got to go," Reyna says, running off into the woods. "Don't follow me."

"Reyna!" I shout after her. "Where are you going?"

"To sort it all out."

**A/N: I hope you like Jamica's change of heart. I always planned to make her do good in the end. And I always planned for her to get one kiss off Zeb. Even if she was near dead when it happened. . .  
Anyway, please review! You'll get a cyber-hug if you do! :D**


	23. The end game

**A/N: I don't want to give anything away so I'm keeping my mouth zipped.  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games, the characters or the nightlock berries.**

Chapter twenty three-The end game

"Should we go after her?" Zeb asks as he lays Jamica onto the ground.

"I don't know," I reply. "What is she going to sort out?"

"I have no idea," he replies. As he speaks a cannon goes off. I look at Zeb and he looks back. Then another one goes off. "Reyna!" Zeb shouts, getting to his feet and running off. I stand for a moment, dumbstruck, then follow after him.

We arrive at the Cornucopia clearing and find Reyna lying in the grass. "Reyna?" I call. No reply. She doesn't even flinch. Assuming one of those canons belonged to Verma then . . . "Reyna!" I scream. We both run across the clearing as fast as we can. "Reyna!" I pant as we stop at her body. There's a small pile of nightlock berries in her hand. "No!" I shout. "No, no, no! She's not that stupid. She wouldn't eat those without knowing they'd kill her!" I crouch beside her and wipe the berry juice from her mouth. Zeb crouches beside me and looks grave. "I think she knew," he says to me.

"You saying she comitted suicide?" I snap.

"Think she took them thinking they were food?" he fires back. "She must have killed Verma then took these."

"But that means she knew it would leave us two at the end," I say, turning round and pacing. "I'm not killing you Zeb! I'm not! I just can't!"

"You won't Primrose, I know you. And I'm not killing you either," Zeb replies.

"Then_ what_ are we going to do?!" I ask in desperation.

If I had of turned round in those few seconds I could have stopped it. If I had of turned round in those few seconds I would have seen Zeb open up Reyna's fingers. I would have seen him take a berry out of her hand. I would have been able to stop him. In those few seconds everything froze. It felt like the world was at a stand still. Everything went quiet as Zeb said two words. "Bye Primrose." I spin back round and it feels like slow motion as he chucks a single nightlock berry into his mouth. "ZEB!" I scream. "NO!" I run towards him as he swallows it whole. "Zeb! Please! No!"

_Your dead before it reaches your stomach._

His eyes roll behind his head and I reach him just as he falls. No cannon yet. I scoop him up into my arms. "Zeb? Zeb? Wake up please!" I beg. His eyes flutter open a bit. "Hey Primrose," he says. "Your gonna win now."

"No, I'm not," I say. "Please. You've got to stay with me!"

"Primrose, I can be with Carrie. I can see Kaliana." He groans in pain.

"Zeb! Please, don't go," I sob.

"Primrose, I can't go home."

"Yes you can!" I weep.

"Primrose, Cat is still in the district. I can't bear going back. Facing my parent's after failing to care for Carrie. Don't force me to go back there." He's crying now.

"Come home with me Zeb, yeah?" I say. "Come back with me to 12." He should be dead now but he isn't. I'm not complaining but it's a bit confusing. "Come home with me. District 12 will welcome you. Don't go please! Don't leave me here!" He's dying. I can feel his life slipping away. "Zeb! Zeb! Come on, be strong now!"

There's only one thing I can do now. I'm gonna do a Katniss. I snatch a beery from Reyna's hand. "CAPITOL? LYNN? If you don't get your fat asses down here right now and save his life then I'll eat these BLOODY BERRIES!" I scream. Silence. "I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL!" I scream. "HELP HIM!" Still nothing. "Wanna play games?" I snap. "FINE!"

"Primrose, no," I hear Zeb croak.

"Shh Zeb. We're both getting out of this godforsaken arena. DEAD OR ALIVE!"

I then chuck the berry into my mouth.

**A/N: I'm not saying nothing. Gonna have to wait till' tomorrow.  
Reviwers will still get their cyber hugs though!**


	24. The Mells Theroy

**A/N: I wasn't planning on doing this in parts but it's just how it ended up. Anyway here's chapter twenty four. Enjoy! ^_^  
I do not own the Hunger Games. :(**

**PART TWO**

Chapter Twenty Four-The Mells Theory

I don't remember how I ended up here. The last thing I can remember is the berry juices eating my insides and then falling ontop of Zeb's body. Everything went dark after that.

I've woken up in a white room. The white is so sterile it's almost blinding. A white quilt is tucked under my arms and I'm connected up to some sort of moniter and a drip. At first I panic as I have no idea where I'am or what's going but then I relax a little as I realize that at least I survived the berries. I turn my head and see another bed beside me. Zeb is lying on his side, fast asleep, facing me. I want to be relieved that he's alive but the number of machines he's hooked up to is worrying. Why though? We both did the same thing didn't we? Shouldn't we be getting the same treatment then? So why is he hooked up like he's on life support? He's ghostly pale and doesn't seem to be breathing right. Are we in the Capitol? Did they let us both win?

"Zeb?" I call over to him. "Zeb?"

Zeb frowns in his sleep for a moment before his eyes flutter open. "Primrose!" He exclaims before looking round himself. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," I reply.

"How are you feeling?"

"Bit groggy," I reply. "Bit sick too. All in all, not too bad. What about you?"

"Groggy and a bit of a headache. I feel very sick as well," Zeb replies. He looks around at the multiple machines surrounding him and frowns deeply. "How did we survive?"

"I have no idea," I answer.

"You know, you didn't have to eat those berries," Zeb says quietly.

"Yes, I did," I reply softly. "But you didn't have to attempt suicide!"

"Yes, I did. I couldn't go back home. I had this planned since Carrie died. I can't bear to go back to the harassment back home. I can't bear to go back and see the faces of my parents whose little girl has died due to my carelessness."

"Zeb, you can't keep blaming yourself for Carrie's death," I say.

"And don't get me started on the fact that Cat's still there," Zeb adds, obviously refusing to accept that Carrie's death wasn't his fault.

"Zeb, if we get to go home your coming back to district 12 with me," I assure him. "You'll never have to see Cat again."

Reyna said that he has no idea what people believe he can do which is the root of the harassment. Should I tell him? Is it my place to tell him? Surely he should know, right? He has a right to know. But from me? I don't know.

"If you weren't allowed in our district I'd made sure I came with you to yours," I say, concluding that it's not my place to tell him.

"Yeah, like you'd want to go there," Zeb mutters under his breath.

We stay silent for a bit after that, not sure what to say or do. We don't worry too much about where we are as we're obviously being kept safe. If we were in any immediate danger then why would we be kept alive? The silence starts to get uncomfortable so I ask something that's been on my mind for a while.

"Zeb, how can you and Carrie speak french?" I ask.

"Oh. . ." Zeb replies. "Our ancestors before the country was divided into the thirteen districts had come from France and my granny Gertha knew the language. She taught us it when we were little up until the day she died. She didn't teach Carrie the swears mind you. I don't know where the hell she got them from."

"Oh, cool," I reply.

The silence comes back again for about half an hour until an invisible door in the wall oppisote us opens out. Saying that it made us jump is an understatement. I nearly fall out of my bed. I think Zeb manages to keep composed. A man steps through the door with a nurse in close follow. The man has brown hair and his eyes  
are. . .cream colour? Shit. We're in the capitol. The nurse just confirms my suspicions as she has blonde hair and green eyes which don't seem too bad. It's the mile long eyelashes tipped with orange fluff that gives her away. She immediately goes over to my drip and adjusts a few things.

"Who are you and where are we?" I ask immediately.

The man grins and his eyes ping pong from me to Zeb for a moment before explaining. "My name is Iana Morgal and this is Ungal Jay. Your in the Capitol."

"How are we still alive?" Zeb asks.

"We kept you alive with some very complicated Medical stuff that you wouldn't understand." Iana has an angry edge in his voice. I think I've made him angry."I'm President Lynn's right hand man and I've been sent to express her anger."

"Oh really? Well, let her know that I'm very angry too. What the hell is this in my arm?!" I demand to know.

"It's what's keeping you alive," Ungal says as she switches drip bags.

"Why did you keep us both alive?" Zeb asks.

"Lynn wants you two to be punished," Iana replies.

"What for?" I ask.

"The Mells Theory," Iana answers.

"The _what?"_

"The Mells Theory," Iana repeats. "It's the thing Lynn wants you guys to suffer for."

"What about the rest of the country who are waiting to find out who's won?" I ask.

"We have told them that you both didn't survive the berries."

"WHAT?!" Zeb and I scream.

"We've told the country that you and Zeb are dead."

"Why!?" I demand to know.

"As I said, Lynn wants you two to suffer for both your family's histories," Iana answers. Ungal moves onto Zeb and does the same with his drip and fiddles with the numerous machines around him.

"So my parents and brother think I'm DEAD?!" I shout.

"I'm afraid so," Iana shrugs.

I say something unintelliageable then and Zeb repeats the same thing in french to prove the point. I then calm down a fraction and take a deep breath. "Ok, what's the Mells Theroy?" I ask.

"That's the name of the theroy. Mells theroy. You know, Mellark and Walls. Mells? The theroy that both of you could bring down the Capitol again, as crazy as it sounds. Anyway, as I've said, Lynn wants you two to suffer for it," Iana says. "I need to go now and tell Lynn that your awake again but Ungal will stay here to finish sorting Zeb here out." He goes back out of the room and the door shuts and turns invisible again. Ungal keeps fiddling with the drips and moniters round Zeb and it's all silent again.

I think things can't get any worse as we sit there. My family thinks I'm dead. Maurice thinks I'm dead. All of Panem thinks both Zeb and I are dead. Zeb's parents thinks he's dead. They think they've lost both their children. How bloody sick is that? I'm going through all of these in my head when Ungal snaps me out of it with something she says to Zeb.

"Ok now Zeb, we're putting you back on your chemo now that your back from the arena."

Chemo? As in cancer chemo?

Does Zeb have cancer?

**A/N: Bear with me on this one please. It sounds like it's turning into a really bad soap but the Cancer is important later on so please stick with it!  
Please review! Free cyber-hugs for reviewers!**


	25. No more secrets

**A/N: I would like to say thank you to all who have beared with me through this while story so far. I love you guys! And there's plenty more to come ;)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or Suzanne Collins ideas.**

Chapter Twenty five-No more secrets

As soon as Ungal leaves the room Zeb pulls the covers over his head.

"Zeb?" I ask. "Zeb? Talk to me."

"No," Zeb mumbles.

"Zeb, please talk to me. Is this chemo the sort of chemo I think it is?" I ask.

"Depends on what you think it is," Zeb replies through the sheets.

"Do you. . like. . .um. . ." I bite my lip, trying to think of a right way to put it.

"Have cancer?" He peers out through the top of the covers. "It's Ok to say it you know."

"Well, do you?" I ask.

"Yes."

Oh my god. "Wh-what type?"

"Lung," he replies. "Youngest recorded case in the last century."

"Oh. . .how long?" I ask.

"A good bit now. They wouldn't give me proper chemo before the games as, obviously, I'd lose my hair and apperance is everything to the Capitol."

"Your gonna lose your hair?" I ask.

"Yes, I will."

"Oh Zeb." I bring my drip round the side of the bed and go over to him. I pull the quilt down and give him a big hug. "Zeb, we really need to stop with the secrets, yeah?"

"I didn't think of a time to say it," Zeb shrugs. "It's not like I could go, 'Oh, I know I've got blood poisoning and, hey Primrose, did you know I have lung cancer?'"

"I guess so," I say back.

"It's nothing to worry about though," Zeb assures, sitting up right.

"What? Nothing to worry about? Your getting Chemo Zeb. It must be serious," I reply.

"Primrose, I'm fine. I've never let the cancer stop me. I could work fine with it, I can shoot fine with it, I'm fine, believe me," Zeb says.

"If-if you don't mind my asking, uh, how did you get it?" I ask.

"I used to have a group of friends back home. They were alright and all that but they used to smoke cigarettes. I didn't smoke at first but I started feeling a bit pressured into doing it. I thought they were thinking I was weird for not doing it too. But, you see, I kinda got addicted. I mean, I've obviously stopped now, like, I spent ages on nicotine patches but of course things aren't that easy are they? Nah, I later got diagnosed with lung cancer," Zeb explains.

"I'm sorry," I reply, patting his back.

"I-I sometimes wonder whether Kaliana would have loved me if I didn't have any hair. . .you know, if the Capitol had decided to give me the chemo before the games."

"Of course she would Zeb," I reply, giving him another hug. "Course she would."

I had never knew what cancer was until granny Everdeen died. I remember going to visit her grave on Feburary the 7th on her death anniversary. It was kidney cancer that took her in the end. They sent her body back home once she'd died. I had never met her in person. I had only ever spoken to her on the phone. I've heard a lot about her though. I know she was a good woman.

_"Was Granny Everdeen a nice woman?" I ask mum as I gaze at the headstone for granny Everdeen. _

_"Her intentions were always in the right place when my sister and I were little. She always took her job seriously. And so did Prim. They were both brilliant healers," mum replies as she lays the bunch of flowers she bought onto the soil. "Your actually spitting image of her."_

_"I thought I looked like my father," I frown as I pull out the weeds that have grown by the marbel rim of the grave._

_"All merchants pretty much look alike. Just like Seam kids do. People used to think that me and my friend Gale were cousins," mum answers._

_"Really?" I ask._

_"Oh yeah," Mum says._

_"H-how did granny die?" I ask._

_"She hadn't been stable for a while. Definetly mental wise. But it was Cancer that took her in the end."_

_"What's Cancer?" I frown._

_"It's a very severe diease sweetheart. Sometimes it can be cured but sometimes it can't. Your granny's was too far on to be cured. She lived a wonderful life though." Mum holds a stone cherub in her hands and I hand her a cleaning cloth. _

_"Mum, how come dad never speaks of his family?" I ask._

_"Because some things your father looks back on hurt him."_

_"Why though? It makes no sense. Families are supposed to be kind and caring and stuff. How can they hurt?"_

_"Some questions are better off unanswered."_

_"But-"_

_"No buts. It's the law."_

_"What law!?" I demand._

_"The Katniss Everdeen imaginary law," Mum grins._

_"Oh ha ha," I say sarcastically. "Hey mum, when did you figure out you loved dad?"_

_"Oh that's complicated question isn't it?"Mum laughs. "I guess I always knew deep down. Ever since I first met him."_

_"And when did you meet him?" I ask._

_"We had never even spoke before we got selected for the Hunger Games. But one day, a few years before the games, my family and I were starving. I kept trying to sell some of Prim's old baby clothes and I ended up outside the bakery. I felt so weak and tired and scared. Your dad gave me some free bread."_

_"Just like that?" I frown, not buying that it was that easy._

_"Yeah, just like that."_

_"Did Granny like dad?" I ask._

_"Yeah. I thnk she was weary at first but he grew on her just like he did on everyone else," Mum smiles._

_"Oh cool," I say. ". . .Can anyone get Cancer?" I ask, going back to the cancer topic._

_"Anyone. Even children."_

_"Really?! Children?!" I ask in astonishment._

_"Oh yes," Mum replies. "Now come on, let's say a prayer for granny Everdeen."_

I never thought much about younger cases of Cancer. I never had a reason to.

Zeb and I both go back to sleep after deciding that it's the best thing too. Especially in Zeb's condition. I don't sleep too well if I'm honest. It's very restless. I've been worrying about what the Capitol are going to do to us both. All because of our family's history. All I've ever wanted for my family is that we could move on from the past and have a normal life like everyone else. I'm sure Zeb feels the same.  
Somewhere though, deep down, I've always known that was never going to happen.

XXX

Zeb lost his first bit of hair this morning. I woke up before him and when I turned to check on him he seemed fine. It was only when he sat up and looked down at his pillow he saw the strands of hair sitting there. I spent half the morning comforting him. It'll only be a matter of time before he's bald. I'm worried in case he won't be able to cope with it. It's better than him dying of the cancer though. As long as I'm here he's going to be fine though.

**A/N:There had been a lot of Primrose and Peeta moments so I decided to put in a Primrose and Katniss moment when died.  
Reviewers, as always, get cyber hugs!**


	26. Rescueing One Half

**A/N:Here is chapter twenty six! Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games sadly but I do own my own copy of the trilogy!**

Chapter Twenty-Six-Rescueing one half

We are both woken to shouting and yelling. We have been sitting around in the hospital room, if that's even what it is, for about a week now and nothing too eventful has happened. Due to Zeb being hocked up on all different sorts of drugs he's always a bit more disoreintated than me so he doesn't realize what's wrong as quickly as I do. The invisible door is lying open and the corridor is glowing from some sort of unknown source down the way.

"What the. . . ?" I mutter to myself, yanking the drip out of my arm and going to the doorway. I peer out and I'm hit by a wall of heat. Is that a fire down there? I leap out of my skin when I hear a load of gunfire. "Oh my god!" I say. I rush over to Zeb and gently slap his face. "Zeb! We need to get out of here!"

"What?" He shakes his head. "Why?"

"I don't know but I don't have a good feeling about this," I say. "Do you need your drip?"

"I have no idea," Zeb frowns. "I don't care though. Things couldn't be any worse if I take it out." He yanks it out of his arm and stands up beside me. We both look like two mental patients as I'm in a silly pink nightgown and Zeb is in blue checkered pyjamas. Still, we can't concentrate on that. "Come on," I grab his wrist and pull him out of the room. He feels very thin as we both aren't fed very well here but it's taking more of a toll on him than me.

We run in the oppisote direction of the fire and shouting. It feels like we're going round in circles as the corridors are endless and they're all the same. For some odd reason I have a feeling the fighting is over us. Zeb stumbles a lot and seems to be getting weaker. When we turn what feels like the fifteth corridor we walk straight into a dead end. "What do we do now?" I ask in a panic as the shouting and gunfire is getting closer.

"Uh. . ." Zeb's eyes are crossing over and he seems tired. Maybe we should have took his drip with us. I wave my hand in front of his face and he shakes his head, making some more hair fall out again which doesn't help his current mental state. "Come on Zeb, hold it together. Wait here a moment," I say. "I'm going to look for an another route."

"Hold on!" Zeb says.

"What?" I turn round to face him again.

"Take this," he presses something into my hand and ushers me back up the corridor. "I'd only slow you down anyway." I don't look at what he gives me just yet. I shove into the breast pocket on the nightdress and run the rest of the length of the corridor.

At the top of the corridor oppisote me a couple of soliders that aren't peacekeepers run through. They notice me immeidately and come running towards me. I'm caught a bit off guard and have only taken a few steps backward when they reach me. One of them scoops me up and throws me over their shoulder. "Get off me!" I scream, kicking and punching him. "Get off! Hold on! What about Zeb?! ZEB!" I continue to scream at the top of my lungs until something is put over my mouth and I fall unconcious.

XXX

I don't care about being disoreintated when I wake up, I immeidately leap off the bed or sofa or whatever the hell they put me on and start shouting. "Zeb! Where's Zeb?! What the hell have you people have done with him?!" I continue shouting like this until a door that I didn't notice to my right opens up and someone walks in. I don't even take a moment to see who it is before I start shouting at them."What have you done with Zeb?! Is he Ok? You see if he isn't I'll kill you all!"

"You always had a temper," the person mutters.

"What?!" I snap, finally deciding to look at them. Bronze hair, strong build, pierceing green eyes. . . "Maurice?" I ask.

"Hey Prim," Maurice smiles.

"Maurice!" I laugh, running and giving him a hug and kiss. "Why are you here?"

"Glad to hear your pleased to see me," Maurice laughs, patting my back. "I'm here, with a handful of others, to help you."

"Help me do what?" I ask, not letting emotions get in the way of the situation.

"Your gonna start another rebellion."

"Haha," I chuckle. I stop immeidately when I see his serious expression. "No I bloody am not!"

"Yes you are," Maurice sighs. "It's the only hope we have."

"Where are we?" I ask.

"An underground base that runs through all the districts. We checked under the remains of district 13 but no-one got out this time."

"Handful of others?" I frown.

"Your family, myself, Delly Cartwright and her kid Keri," Maurice replies, counting them off on his fingers. "And my mum is here too."

"My family's here?" I smile.

"Yeah, they are," Maurcie grins.

"Oh that's wonderful!" I laugh. "Wait. . .where's Zeb?"

"Oh. . .we didn't get him out," Maurice mumbles.

"What?!" I snap. "Why not!?"

"We couldn't get him out Prim, I'm sorry," Maurice says sadly.

"Is his family here?" I ask.

"His parents were too ill over starvation and the loss of Carrie and pretend loss of Zeb himself. Although some girl called Cat came. I think she's maybe a girlfriend or something."

"Cat?" I snap.

"Yeah, I think that's her name," Maurice replies.

"Where is she now?" I ask.

"Down the hall, two rights, a left then a right, one more left and a right, first door on your left," Maurice answers.

"Thank you," I say, leaving the room and following Maurice's directions until I come to the first door on the left. I kick it open and come face to face with Cat.

**A/N: What's gonna happen with Cat? Your gonna have to wait to tomorrow ;)  
You may start thinking, oh this is just like Catching Fire and Mockingjay, but bear with me and you'll find out it isn't.  
Reviewers will get cyber-hugs! ^_^**


	27. Avenging Zeb Walls

**A/N:Here's chapter twenty seven! You get to find out what Zeb gave Prim before she got rescued. Enjoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. *sigh***

Chapter Twenty-Seven-Avenging Zeb Walls

"You stalking little-" I march right over to Cat and plant a giant slap across her cheek. "How _dare_ you do that to Zeb! And how _dare_ you come here in replacement of his family!"

"Yeah, I thought this was going to happen," Cat mutters, rubbing her cheek.

"What did you expect me to do? Say, 'Congratulations your a paid rapist'?!"

"I was doing my job!" Cat snaps.

"You make me sick, your job makes me sick, the whole bloody capitol makes me sick! Zeb Walls is my best friend and wherever he is right now I'm here to avenge him!" I scream.

"I was doing my job," Cat repeats slowly.

"Oh yeah? Tell me Cat, do you normally, 'do your job', on those critically ill?!" I snap.

"What?" Cat frowns.

"Zeb has cancer you idiot!" I scream.

"What?" Cat repeats more softly.

"You _did your job_ on a dying boy!" My screams are getting louder and louder.

"I-I didn't know that-"

"Oh you didn't know, that makes everything better doesn't it?!" I shout.

"I'm sorry but I was just doing what I was paid for! I wasn't told history or details or anything!" Cat snaps.

"Don't apologize to me!" I snap back. "Your should be apologizing to Zeb! Oh wait, you can't! Why not you ask? He's prisoner of the freakin' CAPITOL!" I scream.

"I'm sorry OK!" I'm startled that Cat's screaming at me now. "Lynn has my family! She threatened to kill them if I didn't co-operate with her job for me! What was I supposed to do?! Refuse it?! I love my family thank you very much and I love my girlfriend very much too!"

"You mean your a. . . ?" I trail off before I finish.

"Yes!" Cat snaps. "I didn't enjoy the job one bit! I was doing it to protect the people I love!"

"Oh . . ." I trail off again and somehow end up bursting into tears. "Why can't the frigging Capitol let anyone have a happy life?!" I sob. "My family history, Zeb's family history, Maurice's family history always end up hurting others as well as ourselves!" I kick the wall closest to me and continue sobbing. Cat encloses me in a hug and I do something I never thought I'd do before. Cry into the shoulder of Zeb's stalker. "Why can't we all just be left alone?!" I wail as Cat pats my back.

"I don't know," Cat mumbles.

I pull away from her for a moment. "Don't think I forgive you for what you did to Zeb. It's going to take a lot of convincing before I trust you."

"I know. I understand that," Cat says.

"You do know thanks to you he can't have children right?" I ask. Not in spite though. I just want her to know the effects of her actions.

"No, I didn't know," Cat says quietly.

"Well, he can't," I reply, whirling round and heading to the door. As I reach it I spin round and look her straight in the eye. "And just to let you know, if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to avenge Zeb Walls by bringing down this stinking Capitol and getting him back."

Maurice catches my arm as I leave the room and asks me, "Does Zeb really have Cancer?"

"What, do you think I just made it up?" I snap irritabely.

"Of course not," Maurice replies, hugging me. "I was just asking."

"I pulled him out of his drip so we could escape, Maurice! What if they didn't save him in time to do that punishing for family history crap? Would it be better for him to just die before they torture him? Is it better? Would it be better? As he said in the arena he could be with Carrie and Kaliana and stop facing all the pain his family history has given him. Am I wishing him dead? No! That's terrible! I don't want him dead! He's my best friend! Ever since I first seen him sitting in the chariot at the start of the chariot rides! Ever since I handed him that sugar cube! Maurcie! Am I wishing him dead?!" I say this all in a panic, my sentences running into each other.

"Prim? Prim, calm down will ya?" Maurice says, holding me at arm's length with his hands planted on my shoulders. That's when I realize I'm still in the Capitol's nightdress. Maurice seems to notice it for the first time and frowns. "What's this?" He reaches into the breast pocket of the dress and pulls out a gold locket on a chain. I gasp as the locket bounces in mid-air as the chain tightens.

_Take this._

I snatch it out of Maurice's hands and hold it tightly to my chest. "What is it?" Maurice asks.

_"It's my district token. It has a photo of mum, dad and Carrie in it." _

"It's-" I take a moment to take a long, ragged breath, "It's Zeb's district token."

"Why do you have it?" Maurice frowns.

"He gave it to me before we got seperated," I answer. "It was all he had left and he gave it to me!"

"Don't say 'was' all he had. There's still hope Prim," Maurice says.

"For what? For the Capitol to kill him or for him to die slowly here without the right medicine?" I ask, quickly clipping it onto my neck and hiding it underneth the nightdress.

"There has to be some way we can treat Cancer here," Maurice frowns in concentration as if already thinking about it. "What type is it?"

"Lung," I answer.

"Ok. . .uh. . .we've bound to have something. . ."

"I know something that would help!" A chirpy voice chimes. I look past Maurice and see my little brother, who has grown a lot since I last seen him, grinning happily at me.

"Gale!" I say, grabbing him and spinning round like I used to. I prop him onto my hip, even though he is twelve, and ask, "So Gale, what do you think will help?"

"I was surfing the web on the computers here and found a way to use natural ingredients to make a subsution of chemotherapy that still works the same way on the diease!" Gale looks proud of himself. I'm proud of him myself.

"Gale you genius!" I cheer, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Well that's that problem solved," Maurice says.

"Now the other problem is getting him back here to use the all natural chemotherapy," I sigh.

"And the only way you can get him back is by starting another rebellion," Maurice says.

I sigh and rub my eyes. "What do I have to do?"

Maurice smiles. "I'll take you to the woman in charge."

I grin and can't resist saying, "Take me to your leader."

**A/N: Hope you enojyed it! :)  
Reviewers get cyber hugs!**


	28. The Patience of Love

**A/N: Here's chapter twenty eight! Thanks to all my reviewers for their support! :)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games**

Chapter Twenty-eight-The Patience of Love

"So," Maurice begins as he leads me down an endless corridor, "You and Zeb's relationship. . .just how jealous should I be?"

"Oh shut up," I laugh, punching him playfully on the arm. "We're just friends."

"Oh, it's just the way you got on together in the games and all. . ."

"Maurice stop turning green!" I say. "We're just friends."

"It really worried me after the interviews -"

"Maurice! We're just friends, OK?" I snap.

"Oh, of course, yeah, sorry," Maurice says, shaking his head.

"Don't apologize," I wave my hand dismissively. "A lot of people seemed to think we were a couple. No, he and Kaliana were in love. It was hard to see him cope with what Harrie said before she died."

"This is going to be interesting," Maurice chuckles as he opens a door.

"What?" I frown as I step into the room.

" . . .We're planning another attack ASAP and if you don't get him out this time, I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"

At the front of the room a woman stands with her back to me. Her ginger hair falls down her back in a waterfall of waves. A military cap is placed ontop of her head and she's barking out orders to the soliders round the room.

"Reporting for duty, _ma'am!_" I tease, doing a military salute with a laugh. I immeidately stop though when she turns round and I see her face.

"Hey Primrose," the woman smiles.

"Oh Lord please tell me your really triplets and this isn't as grossly wrong as I think it is," I say as the woman smiles.

"Nope, it's me," she grins.

"Which one?" I frown.

"Kaliana," she replies.

"Kaliana? WHAT THE HELL?!" I scream. "YOUR ALIVE?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU PUT ZEB THROUGH?!"

"I know," Kaliana says. "Why do you think I got you out of the Capitol?"

"To start a rebellion! Maurice told me. Why didn't you get Zeb out as well?" I snap.

"You think I didn't try?!" Kaliana shouts back.

"Obviously not hard enough!" I shout back at her.

"Hey Prim, calm down," Maurice says, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"No Maurice, what am I supposed to do?! She faked her death, supposedly loved Zeb and then fails to get him out of the Capitol?!" I'm shouting at him now. "And what the hell was that trick with Harrie then if you weren't dead?!" Turning my attention back to Kaliana as I asked the latter question. Kaliana frowns at me for a moment before remembering. "Oh yes! Harrie! She was in on the plan and pretended that Meladina's powers were working. I faked my death before I got to tell Zeb how I really felt about him so, I paid Harrie off to find you once she was dying and pretend she could see me when in actual fact she was really seeing her cousin Jessie."

"And she pretended to see you? Why did you fake your death in the first place anyway?" I snap.

"Because I needed to play dead to come here and help lead the rebellion," Kaliana answers.

"And why should you lead the rebellion?" I ask.

"Because I was smart enough to fake my death in the first place!"

"What if I don't start a rebellion?" I ask. "Then you won't have one to lead."

"You'll start the rebellion," Kaliana says.

"And why is that?" I ask.

"Because," Kaliana is now standing in front of me and is leaning so close to my face that I can practically taste her anger, "If you don't and we don't get Zeb back I will have you shot by my firing squad!"

"Hey you didn't say that-" Maurice begins.

"You can go and check on the Mellark family solider Odair," Kaliana says, not removing her eyes from me. "Now!" Maurice nods and leaves the room swiftly.

"I want Zeb safe just as much as you do but I can't understand what I can do to start a rebellion," I say to Kaliana once Maurice is gone. Kaliana straightens up and grins. "As soon as we rescued you Lynn ordered all broadcasting channels to be closed down and blocked. We can't contact anyone so we're going to have to travel district to district convincing everyone to start uprisings."

"Oh come _on_! Can't we just go home?" I whine.

"No!" Kaliana snaps. "This stops _now. _We're getting Zeb out first as he is needed too. So we're attacking the Capitol again and if we don't get him back SOMEONE WILL BE SHOT!"

"Kaliana," I frown, "Do you really have epilipsy?"

"Yes, not as severe as I let on though," Kaliana replies.

"This question is my most important one that has always burned a hole in my mind. Do you love Zeb because if you've been leading him on then I swear you'll be the one getting shot," I say.

"Oh course I love him!" Kaliana snaps.

"And you do know about that Cat girl right?" I ask.

"Yes, I do," Kaliana replies. "And she told me what that was all about. I don't forgive her but it's not like I can say to her, 'Why didn't you just leave him alone and let Lynn kill your family?'!"

"Good point," I say. "So, when are you planning on the rescue? We don't know what the Capitol are doing to him right now."

"ASAP!" Kaliana shouts to the soliders in the room. They all start brustling about and shuffling papers around.

"Ca-can I go see my mum and dad?" I ask.

"Of course you can," Kaliana answers. "They're in the last door on the right hand side of this corridor."

"Thank you. . .Kali," I smile. I run out the door and run down the corridor to the right door. I stop in front of it, take a deep breath and step inside.

**A/N: I'am currently juggling three stories so if I might not be able to do daily updates anymore but I'll do my best ^_^**


	29. Family Bonds

**A/N: Chapter Twenty nine! Whoo-hoo! :D  
Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is not mine.**

Chapter Twenty-Nine-Family Bonds

Mum isn't in the room but Dad sits on a bed oppisote the door looking a bit dazed. "Dad?" I whisper. He has a neckalce hanging from his neck that bleeps every few minutes. He snaps out of whatever daze he's in and looks at me. "Primrose?" he asks catiously.

"Yeah dad, it's me!" I smile, running over to him and giving him a big hug. "I've missed you so much!"

He wraps his arms tightly round me and whispers, "I've missed you too Primrose." I sit down beside him and hold his hand. "How have you been dad?" I ask.

"I've-I've been fine," Dad replies.

"What's this?" I ask him, taking the necklace in my hands after it beeps again,

"Oh, that's your mother's idea. When I have an episode apparently my heart rate spikes and this records my heart rate and if it spikes a pager your mother has will beep," Dad explains.

So this is what has become of my father. He has to wear a silly necklace just to keep a watch on him.

"Where is mum anyway?" I ask.

"She's been a bit rattled since the whole third rebellion thing."

"Oh. . .right. Where is she then?" I ask.

"Oh, she's away looking for Gale," Dad replies.

"I saw him," I say. "He's close by."

"Did he tell you what he learned how to do?" Dad asks me.

"Yes! It's amazing!"

"It'll definetly help when we get your friend Zeb back," Dad says.

"How did you know about Zeb's illness?" I frown.

"I heard you shouting at Cat sweetheart. The whole floor heard," Dad chuckles.

"I should have given Cat a chance," I mumble.

"Hey, your lucky, the careers were having an agruement when you were supposedly talking to Reyna about Zeb's history with Cat and stuff so nobody outside this base knows about it."

"I guess that's a plus," I reply. Dad wraps his arm round me and pulls me close to him. "I've missed you kiddo."

"I've missed you too dad," I reply into his chest. After I speak the door creaks open a crack. "Primrose?" a weak voice says.

"Yeah?" I reply with a confused frown. Mum pops her head round the door and smiles. Her eyes are red and puffy, she's obviously been crying. "Mum! You OK?"

"I'm so glad to see you again!" Mum sniffs. We both run towards each other and meet each other half way in a hug. "I'm so sorry for what they're putting you through! Don't let them force you into doing anything you don't want to do."

I pull any from the hug and look mum in the eyes. "Mum, I'm doing this. I'm going to start uprisings, I'm going to help Kaliana lead the rebellion, I'm going to kick the Capitol's ass, make sure there is no-one and I mean _no-one_ left to bring back the Hunger Games and, just to top it all off, I'm going to help Gale cure Zeb's cancer. I want to move on from this stinking life! I want a normal one for once! I want to live the rest of my life with Maurice with the knowledge that if I ever have a kid again that they will be safe from a horrific gameshow when they're old enough to be eligable. Most of all, I don't want things to be expected of me becuase of you and dad's pasts. I no longer want to be your echo."

Cause that's all I really am in the end. An echo. We're all echos in the end. Echos of the past, echos of history. Echos of our parent's lives and histories. I hope someday someone will hear mine and I can leave the past behind. My name is Primrose Mellark. And I no longer want to be an echo.

Mum looks upset that I'm going to help the rebellion but there's nothing else I can do. The Hunger Games and Lynn's family have hurt my family way too much and I want to be the one who puts a stop to it. Permanatly.

"I think I should go and see what Kaliana's plan of attack for rescueing Zeb is going to be. The sooner we get the uprisings brewing the better," I say, hugging mum once more and giving her a peck on the cheek. I then go over to dad and give him a big hug and kiss on the cheek before grinning and leaving the room. I'm going to help Kaliana with this rebellion and bring down this horrific goverment if it's the last thing I do.

**A/N: Ah the bond of family :)  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs :D**


	30. Waiting

**A/N: Ok, this chapter is sorta short but I've been very busy. I hope you still enjoy it though! :)  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games :(**

Chapter Thirty-Waiting

I sit across from Kaliana in the her office with my feet up on her desk. I'm not wearing the nightdress anymore. I'm wearing a short-sleeve, long-sleeve shirt, skinny jeans and leather boots. I've still got Zeb's necklace on as I've sworn to never take it off until he's safe. I've developed a habit of playing with the chain by wrapping it tightly round my fingers then untwining it then tying it back round again.

"So Kali, what's the plan?" I ask.

"I've sent six crafts, twice what I sent the first time, over to the Capitol to get Zeb back. I've sent my best men with them," Kaliana replies, throwing a rubix cube up into the air and catching it again. She has her feet up on her desk too but in the oppisote direction to mine. She solved the cube five minutes previous and had thought it would take longer so she has nothing to occupy her mind apart from throwing it into the air and seeing if she can catch it again. I can tell she's nervous. We both are.

It's only been five minutes since the crafts were sent out and we're both restless already. I have to admit, I'm pretty worried. I don't know why though. Six crafts are bound to get him out right? Although, something deep inside my gut tells me something's wrong. It seems too easy.

Maurice comes in after a while and gives us both a mug of coffee. Kaliana feels compelled to point out that coffee is only for rare occasions as a treat. Maurice just rolls his eyes and gives her a very immature gesture behind her back. I have to stifle a snigger as he flounces out of the room with a stupid grin on his face.

I never liked coffee. Maurice knows this but he probably gave it to me to keep me alert while waiting for news on the Zeb rescue. The coffee only makes me agitated and restless though. I move round into ten different sitting positions over the next half hour and spend another half hour just fiddling with my thumbs. I then take up fiddling with Zeb's locket again before slumping so far down the chair that I almost slide off. Kaliana is pretty much the same. She gave up on the game of toss the rubix cube half an hour before I started fiddling with my thumbs and started twirling aimlessly round in her swival chair. After about an hour she fell off so started doodling all over a file labelled, 'Attack Formations.' Most of them were school girl things like, 'Kali 4 Zeb' or 'I heart Zeb'. I couldn't help but smile. It's so simple and yet so cute. Zeb is going to be overjoyed when he finds out she's alive.

When Sergant Weimalk finally comes in to tell us about the mission, Kali and I practically pounce ontop of him for information. Well, Kali did, I just stood up and started asking a million questions at once. Weimalk looked taken aback by all the questions being fired at him but the silence that filled the room after he spoke was almost deafening.

"Mission Failed."

**A/N: Sorry, I had to. Please don't hurt me for it!  
I might not be updating the next couple of days as I'm going to get ahead on all the chapters in all my stories! So you'll have to be patient for the next one ;)  
Reviewers get cyber hugs! ^_^**


	31. The only way is up!

**A/N: OK, you didn't need to be that patient after all but don't panic if there's a day were I don't update cuz' I'll be probably just be catching up on chapters ;)**

Chapter Thirty one-The only way is up

Kali goes on an absoloute rampage. Screaming, throwing things about the room, sweeping everything off her desk, even kicking the walls around her. Weimalk had made a hasty exit after informing us on the Mission's status as he didn't want to have to be the one who Kali shoots if she intended to follow up on her threats from earlier.

Oh, the soliders tried to find Zeb, they tried really hard. Apparently though, Lynn had predicted another attack and the Capitol had bombed down three crafts before they'd even landed. Then there was thousands of peacekeepers guarding the building were Zeb was being held and the soliders were outnumbered. Half were killed, half ran away.

I didn't bother to stop Kali wrecking the place. Honestly, I was pretty pissed myself. I only stopped Kali's rage when she was about to give the order to have the soliders who ran away shot for cowardice.

"Wow, wow, wow, Kali, hold your horses," I say, putting my hand on her shoulder as she picks up the telephone, which had been lying on the floor by a potted plant, to give the order. "Don't you think that's a bit drastic?"

"No Primrose! They're cowards! I can't afford to have cowards working here! Cowards would be as much use to me dead than alive!" Kali protests.

"Kali, you need as many fighters as you can get. If Lynn finds out you've dropped your rebel numbers it would give her the upper hand wouldn't it?" I reason. Kali glares at me before slamming the phone back down. "Next time I want to do something I'm duct tapeing your mouth so you can't speak," she grumbles.

"Yeah, yeah," I reply. "So what do we do now?"

"I guess we're just going to have to go on with the district to district uprising plan," Kali says through gritted teeth.

"Sure, if we start a rebellion then there's still a chance we'll get Zeb back alive, yeah?" I say.

"Yeah. . . I guess so," Kali replies.

"That's the spirit," I grin, patting her on the back. I climb onto her swept clean desk and hold my head up high. I grab Kaliana by the wrist and pull her up too. "From here on out the only way is up!" Kaliana slips on a stray piece of paper and falls off the desk. I grab her by the elbow and pull her back up into a one armed hug. "Ok, _now_ from here on in the only way is up!"

"Ok then, we shall leave right away. The sooner we start these uprisings the sooner I can have Zeb in my arms again," Kali says.

"How do we start then?" I ask.

"We need to work our way around all the districts convincing them to uprise. Normally, you'd start at district 12 and work your way down but the population of 12 isn't big enough to be used to convince other districts that others have already joined."

"So. . . . ?"

"Assuming we should leave the districts closer to the Capitol like 1 and 2, I think our safest bet would be to start at district 4."

"Why 4?"

"It's a career district but isn't as close to the Capitol as 1 and 2 are. If we get them to start uprising then they would be a great pawn to use to get other districts to uprise too."

"Who else is coming?" I ask.

"We can't bring too many as that would arouse too much suspicion at the moment. You, me, Maurice and Cat will go."

"Cat?" I frown.

"Yes. We may not be able to trust her but she's ideal to bring with us. She's been sent on jobs all over the districts so she knows every single one like the back of her hand. Apart from 11 and 12. She says she was never sent there," Kali explains.

"Well, I know my way round 12 pretty well," I grin.

"And we'll just have to use our wits for 11," Kali replies.

"What wits?" I ask. "If we had any wit we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Leave off it," Kaliana says.

"So when do we leave?" I ask.

"We'll go tomorrow," Kaliana answers.

"Right, I better get some sleep before we leave then," I say, heading for the door.

"Primrose?" Kaliana calls after me.

"Yeah?" I ask, turning back round.

"Think you could help me tidy up?"

**A/N: I guess you can probably tell that Kaliana has a temper on her but the person she's in love with is trapped in the capitol don't forget!  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**


	32. Walking and Complaining

**A/N: Here's chapter thrity two!  
Thank you to .Watching for pointing out my mistakes and giving me friendly advice! :)**

Chapter Thirty Two-Walking and Complaining

I have the best sleep I've had in what feels like ages so when Kaliana wakes me up the next morning I'm pumped and ready to go. We all meet at the exit of the base at 12:00pm. It was hard saying goodbye to my family again but if we succeed then we'll never have to say goodbye like that again.

Cat looks pissed for some reason. Her eyebrows are furrowed in a frown, her eyes are glaring straight ahead and she has her arms crossed before herself. Maurice is beside her fiddling with a gun. I think he's trying to figure out how it works. Kaliana is leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette.

"Give me that!" I say, snatching the cigarette out of her hand and stamping it under my foot.

"Oi!" Kali snaps as I search her pockets for any more.

"This," I snap, waving the pack of cigarettes in her face, "Is how Zeb got Cancer! Now come on, we need to get to district four." I open the exit door and come face to face with a ladder.

"_Underground_ base," Cat says with an eye roll, pushing me out of the way and starting the ascend up into open air. Her attitude changed fast. I wonder what's gotten into her.

"Ignore her," Maurice says as he appears beside me. "She's been like this all morning."

"I wonder why," I muse.

"No idea," he shrugs.

"So," I say once we're out in the open air, "You excited going to you ancestors' district?"

"Sorta, I guess," Maurice shrugs.

"Maybe you could buy a trident instead of making one out of wood yourself?" I suggest.

"Maybe. But wouldn't they be expensive?"

"Probably but I'm sure you could get one cheap somewhere," I reply.

"Ok everybody!" Kaliana says. "We're now on the outskirts of district five so we've got quite a walk ahead of us so let's go!"

When I say the walk is extruciating, I'am not kidding. My feet ache as soon as we're a mile in. If District 4 is fishing shouldn't there be water showing up soon? So far it's just been forest, forest, trees, grass etc. It lets us know that we're nowhere near our destination anyway. I don't mind the forest, I did spend half my life in the District 12 forest with Maurice, it's just we never had a reason to walk so far before so we're not used to it.

"Are we there yet?" Cat moans.

"No," Kaliana sighs.

_Two Minutes Later . . ._

"Are we there yet?" Maurice whines.

"No," Kaliana answers.

_Two Minutes Later. . ._

"Are we there yet?" I ask.

"No," Kaliana says through gritted teeth.

"But my feet hurt!" Cat complains. "Can we not rest?"

"There's no time for rest," Kaliana snaps. "What could they be doing to Zeb right now huh? They could be punishing him because of us trying to save him! You can rest once we reach district four!"

"Kali calm down," I sigh. She seems to have a habit of shouting. I mean, I know her and Zeb are in love. I know what it's like to love someone and not know whether your going to see each other again. I mean, I thought I'd never see Maurice again after I was reaped but here I'am with him. Then again, Kaliana had to convince Zeb that she was dead. I guess it's a tad different.

"She's very grumpy," Maurice says, making me jump.

"Yeah, it's just young love I guess," I reply.

"Mmmm," Maurcie says.

Him and I aren't mushy with each other. We wouldn't sit picking daisies trying to predict when we're going to kiss again or argue over who loves who the most. It isn't the way our relationship is. Don't get me wrong, we love each other with all our hearts but we just don't like getting soppy and dazed with each other

"Gosh it's getting warm," I say, pulling my sleeves up my arms.

"Is that sea water I smell?" Cat sniffs with a frown.

I breath through my nose and grin. "Yeah, it is," I reply.

We all step through the last line of trees and find ourselves on a beach. The sand stretches off for miles and the turqoiuse blue water goes even further than that. I have never been open to such gorgeous scenery and forgein smells before. It's wonderful.

"Hey Maurice," I smile. "Welcome home."

**A/N: I apologize to everyone for this but I'm no longer doing daily updates. I find it very pressuring and I don't think I could handle it with school starting again next week. So, from now on, I will update this story every Friday. (I won't be posting a new chapter tomorrow. Think of this chapter as Friday's one)  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**


	33. Bringing Maurice Home

**A/N: Ignore me while I do my happy dance because MY HUNGER GAMES DVD CAME TODAY! AAAAARGH! I'm so excited! I'm going to watch it on my mum's big T.V later on! I can't wait! *Does happy Dance!***

Chapter Thirty-Three-Bringing Maurice Home

_"Maurice," I say as we sit in the woods in District 12. "You know your father loved you a lot right?" _

_It had been 30 years since the rebellion exactly. Which also meant it was 30 years since Maurice's father died. My mum had been telling me stories of the rebellion recently and she told me about Finnick Odair. I had never heard much about Maurice's father as he doesn't talk about him and you have to be very careful what you say around Annie, sorta like my dad. Mum told me about how Finnick and Annie got married in district 13. Dad made them their wedding cake. She told me about how overjoyed they both were when Annie found out she was pregnant. Finnick was already thinking of names and christmas presents. She remembered him scribbling down different names for whichever the gender the baby would ended up being onto a small scrap of paper on their way to the Capitol to shoot propos. Mum said that after the rebellion, when her and dad got back together, they both decided to look after Annie and the baby to make sure they were both cared for. _

_Something told me that no-one really told Maurice enough that his father loved him so when we went out into the woods that day I told him. He turned to look at me with curious eyes and frowned. _

_"Why do I get told that? My mum told me that once. How can they possibly know? My dad died before I was born!" He replies acidly._

_"Maurice, your father saw your first sonogram photo," I answer. "You don't need to hold a baby in your arms or to see them right in front of you to know that you love them. Your father loved you just as much as he loved your mother. My mum has told me multiple things about your father and mother."_

_"Wow, you must know more about my own family than I do," Maurice jokes drily._

_"If you want I can tell you a few things," I suggest._

_"You can?" Maurice asks._

_"I can tell you whatever you want to know," I reply._

_"Tell me. . .everything," He replies._

_"Ok, right, well," I think for a moment. "Your dad won the Hunger Games when he was fourteen years old when a sponser sent him a trident. According to my mother he was a very handsome boy. Of course, the Capitol being the Capitol had what they thought was a brilliant idea to put those looks to good use. Obviously, they had to wait a few years due to his age. He was only fourteen after all, but in that gap where they had to wait, he had to be a mentor to the tributes of district 4. Your mother was chosen the following year to be the female tribute for the games. My mum told me that when she asked your father whether he fell in love with Annie right away or not he said, 'No, she crept up on me.' Want me to continue?"_

_Maurice had been hanging onto my every word as if it was the last thing he had left. He nodded silently and I nodded back. "Ok well, where was I? Oh yeah, right, crept up on him. Your mother won the games when the arena was flooded and she was the only one who could swim but she saw her district partner get decapitated and that's what drove her to the mental instability. Something tells me that the Capitol knew about their relationship and needed someone to hold against your father when he was old enough for the plan. You see, when your father turned old enough, President Snow sold him into prostitution. They did it with any tribute that was considered 'desriable' and if your didn't comply then they'd kill someone you love, so you did it."_

_"Katniss told you all this?" Maurice asks._

_"Yeah. She explained about everyone when she was telling me about her and dad's history. She told me about Johanna Mason, Wiress, Beetee and Mags, who were all their allies in the games my parents and your dad were in as well. She felt I had to understand how hard it was for all the victors to go into the games again for the Quarter Quell. That's how our parents met really. When your dad got chosen for the Ouell. You know all about the Quell right?"_

_"Yeah," Maurice nods._

_"Well, after your dad and my mum got saved from the Capitol your dad went a bit unstable as well. Mum told me that he took up tying knots in district 13 to keep himself distracted. He seemed to get better when Annie came to district 13 and when my father was rescued from the Capitol, he insisted on making Annie and Finnick's wedding cake. And, I mean this now Maurice, mum told me that as soon as your dad saw that sonogram photo he loved you with everthing he had."_

_"He did?" Maurice asks_

_"Of course he did!" I reply. "He loved you with all of his heart, ever since he laid on eyes on that small little baby on that sonogram picture." Maurice is crying. "Oh Maurice! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you!"_

_"No, no Primrose! No-one ever tells me anything about my father. Thank you so much," he sobs._

_"Oh! Oh, your welcome," I pull him into a hug and rest my chin on his head._

_"I love you Primrose," he says into my shoulder._

_"I love you too Maurice," I say back into his hair. "And when our baby's born we're going to name him Finnick."_

_"We are?" he asks._

_"Yes, we are," I smile. Maurice sits up straight and pats my bump._

_"I'm going to love you little Finnick just like my dad loved me," he says to the bump._

_"We both are," I reply._

_Maurice had always been kept in the dark about his family history up until the day I told him about his dad. It was heart breaking when he started crying. I never meant to learn more about his dad than he knew himself but he was so grateful for me telling him about Finnick. It was the day I realized that I really did love him. It wasn't just a phase or a passing relationship, Maurice was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with._

Back in district 12 there was only flat ground coated with coal grime that you would never dream of running along with no shoes on, so that's why when I see the golden sand I whip my boots off, rolled up my jeans and I ran along the beach. The sand was soft and felt different against my skin. "Come on everyone!" I shout as I run closer to the water. Maurice hesitates for a moment before taking his own sneakers off and running after me in the sand. Cat and Kailana move further into the beach and sit on the sand away from the water. It's Maurice who looks most at home here. As if he belongs here. He runs after me with a giant smile on his face.

I notice the District 4 fence off at the very end of the beach but Kaliana tells us we can rest here for a bit. We all lie on the sand and end up dozing off in the sun. When I wake up the sun is setting, setting a hue of orange and purple off in the sky. Maurice isn't where he fell asleep so I panic and sit up right. I relax as I see him sitting a bit further ahead of where we're sleeping. He's really just a silohette against the setting sun. "Maurice?" I whisper. He turns round and I can just about make out his face. "Are you OK?" I ask him, crawling over to sit beside him.

"Yeah, I just can't sleep," Maurice replies.

The ocean waves hit against the rocks to our far right and is very calming. The sunset reflects off the water and sets a golden reflection that sets the sort of scene you'd only think you'd see in storybooks.

"You know I love you right?" Maurice asks.

"Of course," I say to him. "And I love you too."

"I don't think you understand the extent I love you though. If I could give you my heart then I would. If I could hold you in my arms for the rest of my life then I wouldn't think twice about it," he takes my braid in his hand and plays with the hair at the end. "I had never believed in guardian angels watching over me with the luck of my family's history but as soon as I laid eyes on you at school I said thank you to whoever it was that was looking over me. Your the most beautiful girl I've ever met in my life and a personality to match."

Where's all this coming from? No-one has ever spoken to me like this before and it makes me feel wonderful. I want to give him a giant kiss and cuddle but I can't as he continues.

"I love you just like I love our baby boy and my parents," he says. "And when this is all over I want to settle down with you and maybe try for more children. And so," he reaches into his backpocket and pulls out a big seashell. He holds infront of himself and snaps it open. Inside is a small seashell bracelet in a small bed of sand. "Primrose Mellark, will you marry me?"

Oh my god. "I-I-of course I will Maurice!" I reply almost right away. Maurice smiles, takes my wrist and puts the bracelet on. I attack him with a giant bear hug and we just sit there in each other's arms for the rest of the sunset and fall asleep in the same position.

**A/N: Ok, I know it's fluffy but everyone needs fluff once and a while. I thought it was about time we had a chapter with just Primrose and Maurice so voila! Hope you liked it!  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**


	34. Forbidden

Chapter Thirty-Four-Forbidden

I wake up before Maurice so I lay him down on the sand and stand up to stretch my legs. It's the middle of the night now so it's dark. The only light being provided is by the stars gleaming in the sky. I look at the seashell bracelet and smile. I'm getting married! I can't believe it!

Hold on? Is someone crying?

I look around the beach until my eyes fall on Kaliana. She's curled up in a fetal position on the sand and is crying in her sleep. I approach her and kneel beside her. "Kali," I whisper, shaking her. "Kali, wake up!"

"ZEB!" Kali screams as she wakes up.

"Kali, calm down! It's me! Primrose," I assure her. Kaliana looks up at me with wet, sad, puppy eyes. "Oh Primrose! It was awful! The Capitol killed Zeb and made me watch and . . .and. . . " she's panicing now.

"Kali, it's Ok, it was just a dream," I say, giving her a hug of reassurance.

"Nothing's fair," Kaliana mumbles.

"I know," I say, patting her back.

"At least you've got Maurice to go to when nothing's fair. And your parents and brother. I have no-one," Kaliana says.

"You've got Zeb. We are getting him back you know," I say.

"I know, but even if we do get Zeb back and throw the Capitol, I doubt anyone would be happy with inter-district relationships. It's just like being gay or bisexual, about 85% of the country's against it," Kaliana replies.

"Well. . .that means there's still a solid 25% rooting for it!" I say.

"Face it Primrose," Kaliana mumbles, "We can't be together."

"Oh come on," I say, nudging her. "Of course you can."

"No, it's forbidden," Kaliana replies sadly.

"If someone told me that Maurice and I weren't allowed together just because his family history lay here in district 4 it wouldn't stop us. Kaliana, if you love someone enough then you'll do whatever's in your power to get them," I reply.

"I don't think I could face life without him Primrose. Loads of people told me 'you only known if for 3 days' but I don't care. It was enough for me," Kaliana says.

"It was enough for him too you know," I answer.

"But how? It doesn't seem plausable!"

"Have you ever heard of love at first sight Kaliana?" I ask.

"No," Kaliana replies.

"Well, there was an old saying that claimed that some people fall in love at first sight. They don't need to talk to each other or find out about each other's personalities, they just do. I think that's what's happened with you and Zeb."

She doesn't reply. She just sits, biting her bottom lip.

"Tell me about when you first fell for him," I tell her.

"Um, well, you know the way he did extra practice for his archery?" Kaliana asks. I nod. "Well, I went down to brush up on my weapon skills a bit since my overrated movements always made me nearly kill someone and I jumped when I saw him there too. He didn't see me, obviously, he had his back to me but I sorta just stood and watched him shoot arrows for a bit. It's nothing to do with his body. People always ask me that. 'Is it because he's ripped' blah, blah, blah, well no, it isn't. It's because he's beautiful. The smile, the firey red hair, the cute button nose, and his personality matches. I love him. And I've known that since then."

"Then there you go! Love at first sight!" I declare.

"But how are we-"

"Kaliana Zachary, do you love Zeb Walls?" I demand.

"With everything I'm worth," Kaliana replies.

"Will you everything in your power to get him out of the Capitol?" I ask.

"Of course I will," Kaliana answers.

"Do you want to be with him for the rest of your life?" I ask.

"More than anything," Kaliana replies.

"Then nothing else matters," I answer. "All of Panem heard what Harrie said when she died. They _know_ your both in love. I don't know whether they'll agree to it or not but I know whose side I'll be standing on if they try to deny you your love."

"I suppose so," Kaliana says.

"No 'suppose' about it. Your both going to be together. Full stop. End of story. No notepads left in the store," I say. "Now get some sleep."

Kaliana nods and lays back down to go back to sleep. I follow after her. I may not know a lot of things but one thing I do know is what love looks like. And Kaliana and Zeb radiate with it when they talk about each other. If the districts don't let them be together then I'm going to start a whole different rebellion.


	35. Losing Trust in the Kitty Cat

Chapter Thirty-Five-Losing Trust in the Kitty Cat

"That is one big fence," I say the next morning.

"Yeah," Cat agrees.

We all had woken up and decided to tackle the fence next. And that is one _big_ fence. About ten times the size of district 12's. There's no trees high enough to loom over it so my normal fence routine is out the window.

"We could dig it out?" Maurice suggests.

"It seems like our only option," Kaliana, now having her normal mask of anger back on her face, replies.

"What with? Spoons?" Cat asks drily.

"Nope," I answer. "We're going to have to use our hands."

"Our _hands_?" Cat snaps.

"Good idea Primrose," Kaliana says. "Ok everyone, start digging."

Past the district 4 fence is a sandslope so if there was people walking around then they wouldn't see us. I drop to my knees and start digging away the sand with my hands. Maurice sits beside me and does the same. Kaliana looks around for a stick to draw up a plan of district 4 to calculate where the Justice Building is. Apparently she has an inside man working there and we have to meet up with him once we arrive. Cat stays where she is and just looks at us.

"Come on Cat, _help_," Maurice says.

"No, I'll get sand in my nails!" Cat snaps.

"Just do it Cat," Kaliana snaps back, planting her hand on Cat's shoulder and pushing her down to her knees.

"Fine, I'll do it," Cat grumbles.

"Good kitty," Kaliana grins.

"Shut up," Cat snaps.

Sure, the sand does get under your nails but it's nothing to complain about. We are working to defeat the Capitol and I sure don't want to be the one who has to explain to the rebels that the mission has failed because some sand got under my nails so I keep working. We get a good hole dug in an hour time so we take a break.

"I think you could fit through that hole," I say to Cat. "You could dig from the inside."

"No way," Cat replies sourly.

"Ok Cat, if your going to get on like this then your going to walk back to the base," Kaliana snaps.

"But I thought you needed me to guide your through the districts," Cat says, batting her eyelashes in a disgusting fashion.

"We'll find our own way round," Kaliana answers.

"Course you will," Cat answers with an eyeroll.

"Hey, why are you drawing up plans of the distirct then?" I ask. "Cat should know where the Justice Building is shouldn't she?" All eyes turn to Cat and she shrugs. "I guess I forgot to remind you about that," she says.

"Last Warning Cat," Kaliana says.

"Sure," Cat replies sarcastically.

Ever since we started on this mission my trust for Cat has been getting smaller and smaller. She's nothing like the way she was when I first met her. I think it's because she now knows she's esstential to the mission. I knew I shouldn't have trusted her. Well, from here on out I'm keeping an eye on her.

"I feel like a convict," Cat grumbles as we climb under the fence half an hour later.

"Stop complaining," I reply.

"Now how are we going to get up _that?"_ Cat whines, pointing at the sand slope.

"By using your feet and _climbing_," I answer, starting up the slope.

"But it's sand!" Cat continues to complain. "I could slip and break my neck!"

"If only," Maurice, already at the top of the slope, mutters under his breath as he pulls me up beside him.

"Just go up!" Kaliana shouts, pushing her into the sand slope.

Cat groans and starts up too. She makes to big a deal out of it as she goes. Whining and moaning and slipping and sliding where it's unnessacary. She finally manages to get up high enough for Maurice to grab her hand and pull her up. Kaliana follows after that and makes it up with ease, as if it was just a piece of flat earth.

"Right," Cat grumbles, "Justice Building's this way."

We all follow Cat and look around at the same time. The district resembles an old american state called 'Califronia' that I've seen in history books back home. It's not all beaches and water, it's got sidewalks and roads and shops as well. It's absoulotely roasting and my choice of clothes aren't helping me with the heat.

The Justice Building isn't too far from the fence and we're greeted by a man at the doors.

"Welcome to District 4!" He cheers.**  
**


	36. Hard yet Wonderous

**A/N:Hey! I'm still here! I haven't fallen down a hole or anything! Just to give everyone a heads up, I'm not going to be updating any of my other stories for a while apart from this one and 'Together.' I think I've been fretting so much about finishing Chapters on time that I haven't really thought them out properly so for a while, this and 'Together' will be the only stories updated. I hope that's OK.  
Disclaimer:I don't own the Hunger Games. It would be cool to compete in them though!**

Chapter Thrity Six-Hard yet Wonderous

We walk up to the man and he meets us half-way. "Pleased to meet you Mr. . . ?"

"Dalis," the man smiles. " ."

"Looks like with a wig," Cat mutters drily.

"Cat!" Kaliana barks.

"Sorry, this is Cat and she's got a real attitude issue," Maurice says, shooting her a look. "I'm Maurice, that's Kaliana and this is-"

"Primrose Mellark," says. "I know. Everyone knows about you. Even before the games."

"Because of my family right?" I sigh.

"Yeah, because of your family. But also because of your Games," he replies.

"If everyone knows her then shouldn't she be recognized out here in the open?" Maurice asks.

"Well, yes, but we're going inside now," replies, heading back to the Justice building.

"Wait!" I say, running to join him by his side. "How's this going to work?"

"How's what going to work?" frowns.

"_This!_" I reply. "As in how are we going to convince everyone to uprise?"

"Well, before we get to that, I have some news for Maurice here," says, not bothering to turn to look at Maurice as he spoke.

"Maurice?" I frown.

"Me?" Maurice says as well from somewhere behind me.

"Yes, you," replies, as if he couldn't _bear _to look him in the eye. I stop and let walk ahead while the others come up beside me. I hook arms with Maurice as he comes in step beside me. I can feel the curiousity and confusion seeping from him as we go.

The Justice Building is a bit more well kept compared to the one back in District 12. Not exactly clean and pristine but not crumbling and on it's last legs like the one back home. A few pieces of plaster fall to the ground as we walk through the foyer and the floor's a bit grimy but it's not too bad.

"Maurice, please come with me. The sooner we get this done the better," sighs. He sees my arm still hooked round his. "Uh, I guess Primrose can come too." He leads us both to what must be his office. Maurice and I take a seat infront of his desk and sits at his seat. "So, are you two. . . ?"

"We're engaged," I say.

"I see," nods.

"What is it you want to tell me?" Maurice asks.

"I'm not sure how I should put this really," mumbles.

"Just put it to me straight," Maurice says.

"Ok, uh, you know your father?" asks.

"Not personally but I know enough," Maurice says carefully.

"Well, he was a great icon for this district and they were all devastated to learn about his death. He was hope that maybe the younger kids choosen for the Games can win  
but. . .when the second rebellion happened and your father. . . um. . ."

"Died," Maurice says shortly.

"About that," says with a wince. "Not quite."

"What?" Maurice asks.

"What are you talking about?" I ask. "My mum saw him die."

"So she saw him tore to shreds by the mutts until he was completely gone?" asks, ignoring the growl from Maurice for the choice of words.

I frown. "Not exactly."

"Why?" Maurice asks, his voice hard but steady.

"Uh, well, you see, the mutts were set out to kill _Katniss_ not anyone else."

"But quite a few soliders died then too," I point out.

"People who were 't important," says.

"Don't you dare ever say that," I snap. "Don't you _dare_. Those people scarificed themselves to save my parents. Nobody isn't important. I have been to the pits of hell and back and I have never met anyone before who wasn't important. We all are. Your important, Maurice is important, my parents are important, heck, even Teggs Melaky is important and she murdered an eleven year old girl!"

raises his hands in surrender. I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose.

"What's my dad got to do with this?" Maurice asks.

"The Capitol have him," says quickly.

"Excuse me?" Maurice asks, his voice still hard but wavering.

"He didn't die. . . the Capitol have him prisoner."

"That's not funny," I say.

"I never said it was funny. It's the cold, hard truth," replies.

"That can't be right," I snap.

"Dad died," Maurice says unsteadily.

"That is just cruel and cold hearted and just plain _wrong!"_ I snap. "This is his dad we're talking about!"

"The Capitol took Finnick Odair into custody the same week that the rebellion ended," says, trying to keep calm. "When Peeta Mellark was rescured from the Capitol President Snow lost himself as he had no hold over Katniss Everdeen anymore. When he figured out that her and the group of rebels weren't killed in the pods attack he sent the Mutts out on them in the sewers. Killing a couple of the rebels along the way they found Finnick Odair shouting to the others that he'd stay and hold them off. They roughed him up a bit, which is obviously what your Mother saw Primrose, and, recognising him as a past tribute, dragged him back to President Snow."

"My mum nightlocked him! There was an explosion!" I declare.

"The mutts must have gotten him away fast enough."

"And how do you know all this?" I ask coldly. Maurice is stunned into silence so I ask for him.

"I used to be President Snow's right hand man," replies.

"I thought you were from this District?" I ask.

"No. I was born in the Capitol. I moved here after the rebellion," answers. "Kaliana contacted me at the start of the Games and told me about the plans for the third rebellion and told me they needed an inside man. So I took the job."

"If Finnick Odair was in the Capitol he would have been found in the cells when the rebels won for that short period of time," I point out.

"They're not stupid you know," sighs. "President Snow knew there was a possiblilty that he'd lose the fight so he didn't just keep the lad in the cells."

"Where did he put him then?" I ask.

"I wasn't even told. Nobody knew but Snow himself."

"I don't believe you," Maurice finally says. "I bet your still with the Capitol and your stuffing me with false hope because that's what you bastards thrive of!"

"Maurice, don't," I say, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down now."

"No Primrose, seriously, this is my _DAD_ we're talking about here. The man who loved my mum, the man I never met, the man who I love with everything I have and everything I'm worth! He died before I was born. Full stop."

"Maurice, there's a possiblilty your dad's alive," says carefully.

"Don't give me false hope. Please," Maurice whimpers.

"It's not false Maurice," sighs. "It's proper hope we have here. Seriously."

I look from Maurice to back to Maurice again. Maurice looks so hurt and confused that all I want to do it throw my arms around him and tell him that it will all be OK.

This news is hard, obviously. Maurice has grown up thinking his Dad died for the Districts during the second rebellion and yet here is , telling him there's a chance Finnick's alive. Wait, how will Annie react? Will she be able to handle it? Yes, this news is hard. It's hard yet wonderful at the same time.

"Maurice, we should take this as good news," I say to him.

"But if he's in the Capitol then he's better off dead," Maurice mumbles.

"You don't mean that," I reply.

"Oh really now? You'd rather my dad was tortured then?"

"No, of course not!"

"I don't know what I should be feeling right now!" Maurice cries out, tears streaming from his eyes and soaking his face. "I don't know what to do!"

"Maurice, we're going to try and get him out. Just like we're trying to get Zeb out," assures.

"Zeb? Just like your trying to get Zeb out?" Maurice snaps. "If your going to try as hard as you are with that boy then we have no hope!"

"You don't mean that!" I snap. "They're trying as hard as they can to help Zeb! We all are!"

"Stop kidding yourself Primrose!" Maurice snaps back. "Face it! He's as good as dead!"

That's when I lost it. Whether his father is alive or isn't that gives him no right to talk about Zeb like that.

So I slap him.

"DON'T YOU _DARE_ SAY THAT!" I scream. "I LOVE ZEB! Don't look at me like that I mean **AS A FRIEND!**"

I leave before he can reply as I don't want to hear it, catching my sleeve on the door on the way out, ripping it in the process. Why do they always think that Zeb and I are a couple? Can't I have a friend whose a male? I mean, Zeb's good looking enough and all that but I only see him as friend. I want him to be with Kaliana. I want him happy. I have only known him for the amount of time we've been in the games but he's the bestest friend I've ever had before in my life.

If there was one thing Maurice couldn't understand it was the weight of the Hunger Games. Only people who have fought in it and survived can know what it's really like. If Zeb can get out of this alive then it would be a connection between us. Someone who will understand the nightmares that will be sure to come, the hatred and the hurt. I may not have killed anyone anyway in those Games but it doesn't make it any easier.

**A/N: Now, I don't believe Finnick Odair would be alive if there was a fourth book about life after the rebellion but I needed him to be for my plans for the story to continue!  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs! :D**


	37. Reflecting

**A/N:This is chapter is pretty much what it says on the tin. Primrose is reflecting on the past :)**

**I'd like to point something out. A reviewer pointed out to me when, in my chapter 'Bringing Maurice Home' I said that the rebellion was 30 years ago, which I never thought was much of a problem until I got asked, 'Does that not mean Maurice would be over thrity then?' I never thought about that when I wrote it so, no, Maurice is the same age as Primrose. Just pretend the rebellion ended sooner than 30 years OK?**

Chapter Thirty Seven-Reflecting

I think back to my mother. How did she feel when the Capitol had dad? She hadn't known her feelings yet, so she tells me anyway, but she still wanted to do everything in her power to get him out of that hellhole. I know it's a pack of lies when mum says she hadn't loved him yet. It's utter crap. As I've said, I know what love looks like, and whether mum realizes it or not, she fell in love with him in the moment of their first kiss. First _proper_ kiss that is. Not when he's near dead and when she's half bled out. Dad always had it. That look in his eyes. Love, admiration, desire, it was all there.

_"Mum, what was dad like?"_

_"What do you mean Primrose?" Mum frowns, looking up at me with confused, grey, eyes._

_"Before he was hijacked. What was he like?"_

_Mum's face softens a bit and she goes to her room for a minute. When she returns she has something in her hands._

_"What's that?" I frown._

_"This, Primrose, is memories," Mum whispers. She opens her hands and I see a vile, a pearl, a locket and a photograph._

_"What's this?" I ask, picking up the vile, playing dumb as mum doesn't know I've watched her Hunger Games tapes. _

_"That's a vile," Mum answers. "It can suck sap out of trees."_

_"Oh, right." I reach out and take the pearl and locket into each of my hands. _Oh._ It was _The_ pearl and_ The _locket. The items my father gave her in the Quater Quell to convince her to let him scarifice himself for her, so she could get out. _

_"You know what they are don't you?"_

_My head whips up and I laugh nervously. "What do you mean mum?"_

_"I mean, you know what they are don't you."_

_"No," I answer._

_"You watched the tapes didn't you?"_

_"No! Course not!"_

_"Primrose, your a terrible liar."_

_"How can it be terrible if I'm not lying?"_

_"Primrose, it's Ok," Mum smiles. "Your old enough now. I understand that you were curious. It's fine."_

_I roll the pearl round between fingers for a moment before I speak up, "What was he like before he was hijacked?" I repeat from eariler._

_Mum sighs, the smile still on her face, as she hands me the photograph. I take it off her and gaze at it._

_It's a picture of dad. He's quite young. By the looks of it maybe a year before the reaping of mum and his Hunger Games. Is he laughing? He rarely laughs and yet it seems like it's one of the most common things he did back then. His face is dusted with flour and his hair waves over his eyes. He looks so happy._

_"He looks so happy," I say, voicing my thoughts._

_"He was," Mum replies._

_"What was he like?"_

_All I think of is eggshell dad. The man I have to be careful around. The man who loves me and my brother very much and has a heart of gold. But I want to get to know dad before he was fragile. _

_"He was a baker right?"_

_"Right."_

_I glance back down at the photo and smile._

_"And an artist."_

_My head flings back up. "What?"_

_"An artist," Mum says again._

_"An artist?"_

_"Yes." She goes to the counter by the fridge and takes out a small sketchpad. She hands it to me and I open it. It's filled with sketches of mum, flowers, sunsets, mum, the meadow by the fence and mum. My breath is knocked out of me by the sheer talent that I never realized my father had._

_"Mum, why can't he get better?" I ask as tears threaten to spill over my eyes. _

_Mum bites her lip for a moment in deep thought. I want to get to know the Peeta in the photograph. The happy, laughing man who didn't have a care in the world. I wanna get to know my dad without worrying about saying the wrong thing. Worrying about whether I should clear out and get mum to sort out an 'episode.'_

_"The memory is a delicate thing Primrose," Mum says. "Your dad holds precious memories in the back of his head. In a treasure chest if you like. Locked and sturdy, unbreakable. Safe and Sound. The Capitol memories is in a much less secure box. Think the cardboard boxes outside Cray's house."_

_I hate Cray. He's a nasty man. But he has loads of soppy cardboard boxes outside his house for some reason that I've been meaning to ask mum about. But that's for later._

_"Those boxes open much more frequently as the cardboard walls fall apart and unleash the bad memories of totrure. At least those precious moments are safe and will never be dirtied by President Snow's sick mind. You may not be able to see it but your dad, my little Baker Boy, is still in there somewhere. Safe and Secure in his little treasure chest. And, sometimes, on occasion that chest will open and we'd see him. For who he was before the Capitol. And I hold onto that. And you should too."_

I have held onto that. And I have seen my dad for who he really is on occasion and he is that man that everyone told me about. The joyful Peeta who was forgiving, loving, giving, and had a heart of gold. Now that I think about it my father's heart of gold has turned into a heart of glass. Fragile but no less beautiful. A heart of glass is just as nice as gold or platiumn or bronze. Carefully crafted with care and glitters when the light hits it right. Yes, I love hearts of glass the best.

On occasion though, glass can crack.

I sit on the beach and watch the waves in and out of the shore. I hate it when Maurice and I fight but he has to understand. I haven't had a proper friend before. He and I ended up being friends for what? Five months before we started dating? I never had a friend. A best friend. And now I have Zeb. It sounds weird. Oh Primrose, you don't know what real friendship is, your not close, you only knew each other for three days then the Hunger Games, people would say. You shouldn't be worrying about him as if you were in diapers together. Why not though?

Sure, I only know him for those three days before the Hunger Games and then The Hunger Games themselves but I feel like a know more about him than I would if we had known each other since we were in diapers. And, whether people like it or not, he's my bestest friend in the whole world.

He doesn't ask me, 'Can you shoot an arrow like your mum?' or 'Can you bake like your dad?' like most people do. I hate being judged according to my parents. It's not fair. I can't shoot to save my life, I can't bake (when I tried I set Haymitch's kitchen on fire when he babysat me) and I CAN'T sing. My mum could make the birds fall silent when she sang. I can make birds fall silent too. Because they'd be DEAD. I burst ear drums, believe me. Ok, sure, I made the Mockingjays sing the arena but I bet they went off to ring their ears out later on.

I look at the sand and frown at the patterns the people of District 4 have carved into it with twigs. Mermaids, fish, it's like one big mural along the shore. I grab a stick myself and start carving my own picture.

I wanted to ask dad about being an artist but mum advised against it. There's a reason he hasn't mentioned it to me or Gale before and she says I shouldn't bring it up just in case it sparks something. So I didn't ask. Still, mum let me look through his paintings and drawings. He's really good. I mean super good. More like uber good. Sorry I'm not very descriptive but there is no word to describe his work. Seriously.

"That's really good."

I turn round see Cat looming over me.

**A/N:Sorry about the bad ending. I couldn't think of a cliffhanger. . .  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs! :D**


	38. Not so bad after all

**A/N:Hello again! Here's chapter thirty eight where we get to know Cat a little bit more :)  
Also, just an FYI, UCCA stands for 'Under Cover Capitol Agent.'  
Enjoy!**

Chapter Thirty-Eight-Not so bad after all

"Huh, thanks," I chuckle softly. "What brings you to the beach anyway?"

"I dunno," Cat mumbles, dropping to the sandy ground beside me. "Just bored of Kailana's yapping I guess."

"She just wants Zeb back," I say. "Desperately."

"I know," Cat shrugs. "I know."

There's an awkward silence while we stare at the waves crashing gently against the rocks.

"How'd you do that?" Cat finally asks after about five mintues.

"Do what?" I ask.

"That," she points to my sand drawing.

I wasn't really concentrating on what I had been marking into the sand. It turns out I had self-conciously carved a rose into the sand. Dad had sketched a rose once. It was after a particularly bad episode and mum had told me to leave him be for a while. This wasn't uncommon as this was the routine for when Dad's episodes are bad. He spent a lot of his calming down time sketching or painting. I didn't know about this until mum had told me he was an artist. Anyway, after a while he went to mum and his bedroom and left his pad behind. Me, being the nosey daughter that I'am, went outside and retrieved the pad from where it sat on our porch. I flipped to the most recent drawing and there, sitting on the middle of the page, was a single, white, rose. It didn't make sense to me. It still doesn't I guess. It was just a single,white rose, with the edges of the petals tinted in what I can only think of as blood.

Dad's sketches after episodes always have meaning for something. But a rose? I don't understand. I can normally connect the dots. A picture of a tracker jacker represents the venom in which poisoned him all those years ago. A single one pence coin represents President Coin from District 13, who was responisble for my Auntie Prim's death. But a rose? I don't understand. I haven't asked mum about the sketch itself. For some reason roses upset her. The smell mostly. Gale once plucked a rose from Keri's garden and mum nearly threw up and dad almost collapsed there on the spot. It was terrfying.

"President Snow loved roses," Cat says, interuppting my thoughts.

"What?"

"President Snow loved roses," Cat repeats.

"President Snow?" The idea startles me. How could such a brutal, intimidating man have had a love for such a sweet, delicate flower?

"Yes. President Snow," Cat confirms.

"How do you know?" I frown.

"My mother told me," Cat says.

"How would your mother know?" I ask.

"My grandmother was President Snow's first wife," Cat shrugs.

"What?!" I squeak, absoloutely startled.

"Yeah. What? Didn't Reyna tell you that when she explained about what. . .  
uh. . ._happened_ between Zeb and I? Even more so, didn't _Kaliana _tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Cat Telwan Snow? I'm a Snow?" Cat says.

"It seems to have slipped her mind," I say through gritted teeth.

"I promise I'm nothing like them!" Cat suddenly blurts out. "I'm embaressed of my family history and I wish people wouldn't brand me as a physchopath just because my grandfather was a physchopath himself."

Another echo then. Just trying to stand out and be different from who people expect them to be.

"Are you related to Lynn then?" I ask.

"No. Well, yes, but not properly. She's my half sister."

"But she's older than you," I frown.

"President Snow had an affair with my grandmother again after marrying Lynn's mother," Cat explains. "Lynn is by all means a sterotypical Snow but I'm not."

"How can I believe you?" I ask, suddenly feeling like I can't trust her all over again. What if she's working with the Capitol. What if she's a UCCA?

"I can tell you what's happening in the Capitol right now," Cat suggests.

"How can you do that?" I ask acidily. "I thought you were nothing like your grandfather?!"

"I'm not. President Lynn thinks I'm her UCCA. But I'm not. But since she still thinks I'am I get updates on what's happening with Zeb and Finnick."

"So they do have Finnick!?" I shriek.

"Yes, they do! Now calm down before you wake up the whole district!" Cat hisses.

"So, what's happening with Zeb and Finnick then?"

"Nothing too bad is happening to due to the fact that they're trying to rattle _you _but they still do the usual daily torture to torment Maurice."

"But Maurice didn't know until today," I say.

"True. But the Capitol didn't know that," Cat replies.

"And Zeb?" I finally buck up the courage to ask.

"Last time I was updated, he was dying."

"Dying," I whimper, looking at the single rose carved into the sand.

"Of the Cancer," Cat adds.

"I know," I reply. "Does Kaliana know?"

"No. She doesn't. I don't want to tell her. She's a strong willed girl but she shows cracks. I think that if I tell her that Zeb's dying those cracks will shatter completely. We don't need that for the group at the moment. Maurice has shattered long ago. It's been obvious from the beginning and I have cracks the size of the equator running through me. We need our leader or we have no hope," Cat explains.

"Wh-what about me? Do I have cracks?"

Cat considers this for moment. A look in her eyes that suggests she's weighing up her options.

"Everyone has cracks," she finally says.

"But, what are my cracks like?" I question, pushing the matter.

"Your cracks aren't as big as you'd think they'd be," she says simply. "They're more just like splits in your being."

"Oh."

"Your parents are something different though."

"How so?" I ask as I follow a seagull flying across the azure blue sky.

"They were shattered at one point. Both Katniss and Peeta. But they're pieced together again. You have to understand that that's as rare as a dodo waddling past right this minute," Cat says.

"Pieced together?" I frown.

"Yes, pieced together. You can tell in their demeanour. OK, I'll be honest, they still have a couple of cracks. They probably show when your mother has a nightmare, and they definetly show when the tracker jacker venom messes with your father's head, but, when put together it's all there. Those pieces once shattered have been carefully gathered back up and put back together again with duct tape and glue," Cat explains.

"I see," I mumble.

"It shows they're strong," Cat tries to reassure. "Nobody is really capable of picking themselves up again after falling to pieces."

"What makes them special then?" I ask.

"I don't know. The way they love each other I suppose."

"Hmm, but loads of people love each other, right?" I frown.

"Yeah, but it depends on how real and sincere it is," Cat replies. "You and Maurice are sincere. But I'm not sure about real."

"What do you mean by that?!" I snap, whipping my head round to glare at her.

"Primrose, in all honesty, how long did you know him before you and him. . ._you know," _Cat asks.

"How do you even know we ever _you know_," I ask.

"Because Lynn knows about Finnick Jr."

"WHY THE HELL DOES SHE KNOW ABOUT MY BABY?!" I scream.

"Primrose, calm, go to your happy place," Cat says.

"Why does Lynn know about my baby," I repeat, my voice hard.

"I don't know Primrose. She just does," Cat replies. "My condolences by the way."

"Doesn't matter," I say, waving her condolence off. The silence has overcome us again. Who the hell told President Lynn about my baby? And why would they do that?

"What's this?" Cat reaches out and pulls Zeb's necklace out from under my shirt. She opens it up and smiles at the photos inside. "I never wanted to hurt him you know."

"I know. Now," I say.

"My family was under threat. They were going to kill Newesy on me!"

"Newesy?" I frown.

"My girlfriend. Newesy Lakaery. I love her with all of my heart," Cat says.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I see."

We sit in silence again for a couple of minutes. I'm not homophobic, in fact, I'm waving my rainbow flag, but I've never met someone who was gay before. It seems a bit alien to me. Still, I've always believed you should never judge someone by their life choices and I shall still stick by that.

I mean, I started off hating Cat and now I've realized that she's maybe not that bad after all.

**A/N:Did you like it? Well, did ya? Review! Free cyber hugs on offer for those who do!  
P.S-I'm not good with working out relatives with something as complicated as Cat and Lynn. Would they be half sisters cuz' I'm not sure how to work it out.**


	39. Convincing District 4

**A/N:Yay! I'm back! Whoo-hoo! And here's Chapter Thirty Nine! **

**Also, I made a mistake on how Lynn and Cat would be related. A couple of reviewers pointed out to me that they'd be half cousins, not half sisters, so yeah, there it is! They're cousins, not sisters! :D**

**Disclaimer:I do not own the Hunger Games, it's ideas or characters. I do own my OC's and anything else made up by yours truely! :)**

Chapter Thirty-Nine-Convincing District 4

"It won't be that hard," says to me as we stand inside the Justice Building the next morning. "And there's no pressure."

"No pressure?" I ask before bursting out laughing. I think it's more out of fear than amusement. I laugh so hard that I start to sound like I'm sobbing and Cat has to grip me by the shoulders and tell me to breathe multiple times.

"Ok, ignore him-no offence -but there's no point lying," Cat says. "There's HUGE amount of pressure but I know you can do it!"

"But what if I can't?"

"Don't even think like that. Just, you know, _convince_ them," Cat says.

"But how?"

"I don't know, I'm not the word wizard am I?"

"Well, I know that!"

"Primrose, you need to go!" says.

Apparently there's some festival happening down at the beach and going to get me up on stage to 'convince' them to uprise. How? I'm still working on that. Still, at least it's a plan, right?

"Look Prim," Cat says. Her tone of voice takes me by suprise so I look at her, a bit startled. "I know how to help Zeb, I mean _really_ help him, but I _need _you to do this to the best of your ability. I know I can do this if you make this happen and if we get them uprising."

"You can help Zeb?" I ask. We're talking in hushed tones as I have a feeling Cat doesn't want to hear about her being an UCCA. belongs in the Capitol, whether he thinks it or not. He's not from District 4, no matter how much he tries. It's sad really. But if he found out that Lynn thinks Cat's still her UCCA he'd probably think she's still on Lynn's side. If Cat was on Lynn's side why would she tell me what's happening with Zeb and Finnick? No, Cat's on our side.

"Yes," Cat replies. "But you _need_ to do this."

"Ok. I'll do it."

drives me there. The beach isn't far from the justice building. Why should it be? I mean, about 60% of this district is sand and sea. I'm not sure what the festival is that they're celebrating. Maybe it's like the way District 12 celebrates the Harvest Festival. I don't know but it seems like the whole district has gathered on the beach to celebrate.

As confirmed yesterday, they recognize me. Of course they do. I'm the daughter of the star crossed lovers of District 12. Huh, I never thought much about people thinking of me as that. I'm what they always wanted Katniss and Peeta, the ones that were madly in love and forced to fight to the death, to have. I guess I was what they thought Katniss had during the Quarter Quell. Ha! What a laugh huh?

There's a stage where the small District 4 band called, 'Shipwrecked,' play and that's where takes me to talk to them. They're already silent which is unnerveing. It's probably because they're wondering what the hell I'm dong out here. Makes sense. Why would I be out here? The Capitol told Panem I died after the games. They told them Zeb and I both died. So why would I be here, standing on their stage? Hell, I'd be ready to listen if I were them.

pats me on the back. "Don't worry. They'll listen. Good luck kid." He then leaves me there alone. I gaze at the expecting faces as I stand there, almost as dead looking as a stone. I probably do look dead anyway. Maybe they'll think I'm a zombie. I haven't eaten properly in ages now so I'm pale. I haven't slept in ages so I have dark circles under my eyes. I know they're curious. Who wouldn't be? But still, in that being said, I wish I didn't have to do this. At the back of the crowd, I can see Cat, Kaliana and Maurice, standing on some rocks that sit together in a cluster by the shore. Maybe if I concentrate on those three maybe I can get through this. Apart from my family and Zeb, those are the three people I trust the most.

The words come to me naturally as if I had been planning them for weeks.

"I once got told that nothing bad would ever happen to me. I would be safe for the rest of my life with nothing to worry about. I would never have to fear for my life and I would never, ever, have to go through what my parents did. But I never believed it. I knew, some day, what my parents did in the past would come back to haunt me. And it did. And my family suffered. Actually, still are suffering," I start off.

"I have been forced into the Hunger Games. Something no-one but those who have been in it will understand. I have watched people die before my eyes. From people I've only met, to allies who I had grown to trust, to a little girl who had potential for so much. Teggs Melaky was from here wasn't she? I never understood how you careers could go round killing people without any remorse. I never could. But I understand now. Training to be hard and closed off makes it easier to kill without thinking. I saw that in Teggs. She managed to murder a little girl who had the potential. She probably never thought about it. And Zeb never thought about it when he killed her back. Carrie was his sister after all. Jamica though? At first I thought Jamica was a typical career. I mean, she forced Zeb into killing people and wouldn't leave him alone. But then she shot Annabelle. To help us. And I knew that not all careers are what they seem to be." This is all true. Jamica shocked us all when she shot Annabelle. She really was a good person after all.

"Of course, as you can see plain as day, I'am not dead. And neither is Zeb." I take a deep breath. "And neither is Finnick." The reaction to this is satisfactory. They all start murmering and gasping. I wait for a moment to let them settle down before I continue. "They are in the Capitol though. And with every passing day they get tortured more and more. But we can stop it. We can stop this all for good. Why should we stand by and watch the Capitol kill our children while we sit and are froced to watch! We shouldn't stand for this. The Capitol is only one place right? There's twelve of us round that horrendous place and yet we take all this as if there's nothing we can do! Well, I'm saying no! Not anymore! But I need your help. Zeb needs your help. Finnick needs your help. The futures of the youth of Panem needs your help! Who's with me!"

I'm afraid nobody's going to respond. Why should they anyway? I mean, I have just randomly 'risen from the dead' and told them to uprise. The silence that drags on is so extruciating that I know I've messed up. Well, at least I think I have before something else entirely happens.

A girl, of about Gale's age, pushes her way through the crowd towards the stage. Her aburn hair is tied up in a bun around her head but has two loose strands hanging by her head. Her eyes are sea green, just like the ocean before us. Her clothes match that of the people in the crowd. A short, pink, swishy skirt, a small, white tank top with a small heart over where her own heart would be and a pair of red gladiater sandals. Once she reaches the front of the stage she quickly clambours on it to stand beside me.

"Wh-what's your name?" I ask her.

"Ariel," she says shortly.

"Like the mermaid?"

"Yes."

"And. . .uh. . .what is it you want exactly?" I ask.

"Can you do it?" she asks.

"Do what?"

She blinks at me. "Save us. Help us. Avenge our losses," she says.

"Yes," I reply. "But I need your help."

"What do we need to do?" She asks, her eyes wide and innocent but full of determination.

"I think I can answer that for you!" Cat suddenly waltzes onto the stage, cool, confident and ready to go. I never even noticed that she'd left Maurice and Kaliana. She joins us at the front of the stage and pats Ariel on the head. "Rightio District 4! You need to listen to me! Cat, by the way, hi!" She grins and waves. "OK, this is how it's going to go down." She crouches down onto her haunches and looks at them all seriously. "Zeb Walls is dying. And we're the only ones who can help him. Why you you may ask? Why not go to some other district to ask for help? Well, we came to you because we know your strong. District 4 is strong."

I look at Maurice and Kaliana. Maurice seems proud of me. I have to admit I'm sorta proud of myself, but I know Kaliana is focusing on what Cat has just said. Her hands are clenched into fists beside her and her arms are glued to her sides. Her face is obscured by her military cap but I know what's she thinking of. She's hurting inside. Anyone can see it. But I know this will just encourage her now.

"I know how to get Zeb, and very possibly, , out of the Capitol but I need you to uprise. It's not hard. I dunno, beat up your peacekeepers, reek havoc, beat them to death with salmon, I dunno. Whatever you guys do."

Beating to death with salmon? That sounds like something Zeb would have said which just adds to the insanity of all this.

"You guys know what to do right? Because there's so much at stake here. I know it, you know it, Prim knows it, heck, even the salmon you'll be beating them with knows it." Cat sits back and swings her legs over the edge of the stage. Ariel walks up beside her and taps her shoulder. Cat turns to look at her. Ariel puts her hands on her hips and juts our her hip. "And how will this help Zeb and Finnick?" she asks. Wow. That kid's got attitude. Sorta reminds me of Carrie. Looks innocent but when she opens her mouth she's a real pistol.

"Ah,well, you see little Ariel, or should we call you the Little Mermaid? Nah, never mind. You see, I know my cousin, there's an uprising, she'll get distracted. I also know my good friend Kaliana. If there's an oppurtuinity to get her darling little Zeb back home then she'll take it. Isn't that right Kali!"

All heads turn to Kaliana who, even though her face is covered by the military cap, is glaring daggers at Cat. I think it was the 'darling little Zeb,' comment. Still, at least we're getting somewhere.

"And then beside her we've got Maurice Odair. He probably wouldn't mind sending in help for his father at any oppurtunity either."

All eyes focus on Maurice, whose already half-way down the other side of the rock cluster. He hates attention. He just geuinuely doesn't like it. You can only see his tint of bronze hair as he descends down the rocks, a small whistling tune heard as he goes. Kaliana is peering over the edge, probably wondering where the hell he's going.

"Well, beside her _was_ Maurice Odair," Cat sighs. "And yes, he is Finnick and Annie's son." The murmering begins again and Cat has to clap her hands to bring them to a halt. "Yeah, yeah, yeah shock horror and all that crap but listen to me. We can do this if we work together. You know, like teamwork and stuff."

"Yeah!" Ariel cheers. "Come on guys!" Weirdly she starts singing some ancient song. "_We're all in this together!"_ She sings happily. I think the others know it as well as one by one they all start singing too. Cat looks at me and raises an eyebrow. I kneel down beside and whisper, "Do you think it worked?" Cat grins and whispers back.

"Yes indeed Primrose it worked. And now, we can get them back."

**A/N:Did you like it? I hope so. OK, I know the 'We're all in this together' thing is a bit cheesy, but come on, that song has at least gotten stuck in your head one time in your life. Admit it! :D  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs!**


	40. Meet the In Law

**A/N:TA-DA! I'm back! With chapter forty! Ah! Thank you to all my good friends who have stuck with me from the beginning! You guys are awesome :')**

Chapter Forty-Meet the In Law

At percisely 2:19pm the next day District 4 took on an uprising. I watched from the top floor of the Justice Building as the havoc took place. During this time Kaliana ordered for hovercrafts to be flown into the Capitol while they're distracted with the uprising.

And you know what's brilliant? It worked.

Cat brust into the room in a whirlwind of glee. "They did it!" She laughs. "They did it the freakin' genuises!"

"They did?" I ask, barely able to believe it.

"They did it!"

"They got them both?"

"Them both!"

"Oh my god that's wonderful!" I laughed, tears streaming down my face. They got them! It worked! "Your the freakin' genuis Cat! It was your idea to get them when they uprised!"

"Well, I didn't go in and get them," Cat says modestly.

"When will they be back?" I ask.

"Finnick is here already," Cat replies.

"Really?" I frown.

"Really."

"How though?" I ask.

"He was saved sooner than Zeb was but don't worry, he's on his way. And Gale's sending his experimental attempts at the natural chemotherapy," Cat explains.

"Can I see Finnick?" I ask. He is my soon to be father in law after all.

"Of course you can," Cat replies.

Finnick, apparently, wasn't as heavily guarded as Zeb was. Probably never expected us to try and retrieve him in the first place. He had been there for years after all.

"Has Maurice seen him yet?" I ask as we walk down the corridors of the building. You can still hear shouting outside but it isn't too bad. It's sorta died down a bit.

"No," Cat answers.

"Why not?" I ask, astonished.

"Because we haven't seen him since he wandered off yesterday on the beach," Cat shrugs.

"Is he OK?" I ask.

"He's probably just away off on a really long walk or something. He's in there. Go on in," Cat says, indicating to the door before heading off down the corridor again.

Ok,Ok Primrose you can do this. I believe in you. What do I say to him though? I don't know. I knock gently on the door anyway and carefully open it.

Finnick is indeed there. But he isn't as broken as I thought he'd be. In fact, he's up on his feet, looking out the window at the slowly dying uprising. He actually looks healthier, which is unnerveing. He's like a slightly older version of Maurice. Same bronze hair, same height, same build, same everything. What could they have done to him that they needed him healthy for?

"They did all this for me?" he asks. I'm startled that he's speaking to me as if we already know each other.

"Yes, they did," I reply quietly.

"And for Zeb obviously," he says.

"Well, yes, that too," I say back.

He turns from the window to look at me. "Your Katniss and Peeta's kid aren't you?"

"Yes," I answer.

"I can see them in you. Her eyes, his hair and facial features. You even speak with the air of confidence your father did and have the presence your mother has," he says before turning back to look out the window. "So, how many did they have?"

"There's only me and my brother Gale," I say simply.

"Younger or older?"

"Younger," I reply.

I can tell he wants to ask about Maurice but he can't seemed to figure out a way to slip it into the conversation.

"Annie is good," I say, still standing in the doorway. "She's getting better every day. She's gaining her mental stabilites back again." I finally decided to join him by the window. His face is screwed up in deep thought.

"I'm glad," he finally says. He bites his lip as if worried to ask what I know he wants to so I do it for him.

"And Maurice is OK too."

He turns his head slowly to look me in the eye. Emerald green meets Seam Grey.

"Maurice?" he frowns.

"Odair," I finish. "Your son."

His breath hitches for a moment and a single tear slides down his cheek. "It was a boy?" he whispers.

"Yes," I whisper back. "And Annie named him Maurice. After your father right?"

Finnick nods and wipes the tear away. "What's he like then? My son?"

"Oh he's amazing Finnick. He looks just like you. He's loving and sweet and kind and everything you could wish for in a person. Believe me, I should know. I'am going to marry him some day," I say. Finnick's brow knits into a frown and I show him the seashell bracelet. His eyes widen and he smiles. "I'm happy for you both," he says.

"Thank you," I reply. "But, you see, what's also sorta hard to explain is that your a grandfather."

This time his eyes look like they're about to pop out his head but before he can get himself worked up I need to explain.

"I gave birth to a baby two years ago called Finnick Jr. We wanted to name him after you out of respect. But, you see, I miscarried. Finnick Jr. was born dead. But he still counts to us. He still counts to Annie and he should still count to you too," I explain quickly.

"I'm a grandfather?" is all he can come out with.

"If we get through this I promise we'll take you to him. His grave is near the meadow by our district fence. It's a nice place."

Finnick nods and we both stand in an awkward silence until there's a knock at the door. I hurry over to it and open it a crack. There, standing by the door, is a nervous looking Maurice. I smile, take his hand and lead him into the room.

"Finnick," I say. He turns round to face me and I bring Maurice fully into the room. "Meet your son." You could drown in the silence that follows. I rock back forth on my heels for about five minutes before Maurice bursts into tears. I gasp but I don't even get a chance to comfort him before Finnick has his arms around him and is whispering comforting words to him. I smile and leave the room so they can be alone.

I make my way down to the beach where I saw Kaliana standing when I was looking out the window with Finnick. She's still there, gazing mindlessly out into the distance of the shore. Her Military Cap is now askew on her head but I think she gave up on keeping it right long ago. Debris from the uprising lies everywhere but no permanant damage seems to of been made.

"Did you hear?" I ask her. She nods numbly but doesn't stop staring at the shore. She doesn't even seem to be blinking. I think she's probably stunned. Unable to believe she'll be with him again within a matter of hours.

Actually, never mind that. I walk round to her right side to look at my rose drawing before the waves wash it away for good when I see it. The tint of ginger hair in the corner of my eye. The hair is too messy to be Maurice. And anyway, he's with his father.

My head immeidately jerks to the side and tears well up in my eyes as I see him.

Zeb Walls has come back home.

**A/N:I don't care if you think it's too soon, I wanted Zeb back! I love writing him as a character and I missed it! I needed him back! :')  
Reviewers, as always, will recieve cyber-hugs!**


	41. Reunited

**A/N: Reunited! Yay! Zeb's back! Woop Woop! :D**

Chapter Forty-One-Reunited

He's unrecognizeable. Nothing like the way Finnick looks. His hair is shorter than I remember and still looks like multiple strands could fall out with the slightest movements, there's dark circles under his eyes and he's unnaturally thin. His wrists are still confined together with a pair of shackles whose chain drops down to his knees. His clothes bag round him and he looks about ready to drop but he holds his ground.

I nudge Kailana and she turns to look at me. I point over to Zeb and she gasps. She steps away from me to get a good look at him and to probably make sure he's real. Zeb's reaction is what I expected. His lips part slightly and he seems to be holding his breath. I bet he thinks he's dreaming. I feel like screaming, "Yes it's her! She's alive!" but I don't. It would ruin the moment.

Kaliana's face contorts into a frown. I think she's trying to hold back tears. It's not working though as they're spurting down her cheeks like a never ending waterfall. She finally can't hold on anymore and cries out his name and starts running. He tries to meet her half-way but I think he's too weak to run too far but it's cute all the same. As soon as they meet together Kaliana wraps her arms round him and hangs on like nothing could ever make her let go. Not even if the world was burning around her.

"I'm never letting anyone hurt you ever again I promise!" She sobs as she kisses every available part of his face. "I'm never leaving you again!"

From what I can tell, Zeb can't speak. I don't know why and I'm not sure I want to find out why but he's lost his voice. So Kaliana lets out everything she's been holding back for the past month or so.

"I'm never doing that again! It's all my fault! I shouldn't have pretended to be dead! I should have stayed with you! Kept you safe!"

Zeb's shaking his head definately in a way to say she's talking rubbish but she's having none of it.

"Oh don't give me that look it's my fault and we both know it! Stop looking at me like that! Jeez even with no voice you know how to make me feel guilty," she hugs him again, very tightly, before lifting the shackles and trying to pull them apart with her hands. I sigh and come up beside her. "That is _not_ going to work Kaliana and you know it," I say as I come up beside her. I'm biting back tears myself as I know one sobbing mess is enough for Zeb to handle for now. I take a pin from my hair and take one of his shackled hands into my own. The lock is easy enough to pick and both shackles are soon round his feet and no longer hanging onto his bruised wrists.

As Kaliana and I prop him between us to carry him to the Justice Building I remember his necklace. It normally made it's presence felt by pressing it's cool metal pressing against my chest but this time it's because I actually feel warmth. As if the necklace feels Zeb's presence and burns as if wanting him to wear it again. It's sorta a strange sensation but in a nice way.

Kaliana insists to take him to her room which I guess is resonable enough so that's where we go. I don't think he wants to sleep. I don't blame him really. Lord knows what the hell he's been through and I know what it's like to be terrified of nightmares. I think Kaliana understands this as she doesn't force him into anything he doesn't want to do. Instead of making him rest Kaliana assesses the damage. I'd do it myself but I think he's more comfortable with Kaliana. I remember back to checking his blood poisoning in the cave. He's not scared when Kaliana touches him. He trusts her.

I know it's not that he doesn't trust me. I understand that. He's just more comfortable round her and it makes sense. It was what had happened with Cat that made him like that round girls anyway but I guess it's different with Kaliana because they're in love.

There's a knock at the door and I open it without thinking. Cat comes into the room without a second thought, probably intent on annoying Kaliana, and begins talking without bothering to check who's listening.

"OK, I think Maurice and Finnick are having classical reunion issues, sobbing, laughing, very probably hugging so I guess we can't move on until that's all over. I thought we'd try District 5 next but-"

She's caught off by a squeal as Zeb screams, which is just a squeal due to his loss of voice, and launches himself backwards off the other end of the bed.

"Zeb!" Kaliana cries out, leaping over the side too.

"Zeb! Are you OK?" I ask, more to Kaliana than to Zeb as he can't answer.

Cat looks stunned. Her usually busy hands lie limply by her sides and her mouth is open in the shape of an 'O'. I can tell she regrets coming in. She knows there is no amount of times she can apologize to him for what she did and she knows he will always be afraid of her.

"Zeb, Zeb, look at me," Kaliana says softly as she coaxs Zeb out from under the bed. "She's not going to hurt you again. I promise. She is just like us. They were going to hurt her family, her-" Kaliana sighs and closes her eyes, "-Her _girlfriend_. Please, believe me Zeb. Come on." She reaches in under the bed and gently pulls him back out. She helps him up and steers him by the shoulders towards Cat. I can see Zeb pushing back on her, trying to get away, but Kaliana's having none of it. "Zeb, Cat, Cat, Zeb," she says.

"I'm sorry," Cat croaks. "For everything."

Zeb's still pushing back slightly on Kaliana but not as hard as he was at the start. He coughs, sounding like he's clearing his throat, and when he speaks, his voice is nothing but a cracked whisper.

"What's your real name?"

I didn't expect that to be the first thing he'd say to her. I thought it might be along the lines of 'Why?' or 'What did I do to deserve it?' or something like that.

Cat's eyes widen then return to normal. She sighs and shakes her head. "What do you mean?"

"You told me," he says, his voice hitching and lowering as if it's breaking all over again. "Cat is not your real name."

I consider this. Reyna did mention something along those lines when she was recalling the event from memory. Cat wasn't her real name. I forgot about that until now.

Cat herself rubs the bridge of her nose and sighs. "My name is Aliya Telwan Snow. That's the truth and I swear by it."

Zeb nods in understandment and holds out his abused hand. "Zeb Walls, pleased to meet you Aliya," he whispers.

Kaliana and I gape. I think even Cat, no sorry, Aliya, is taken aback. She reaches out carefully and shakes his hand gently, as if expecting him to detonate at the slightest touch. He does wince slightly as his hands are a bit blistered but apart from that he's smiling.

Then I realize. Zeb is a fighter. A brave one at that. He has just accepted Cat, no wait, _Aliya,_ without remorse. How can that be? She raped him didn't she? It shows me that Zeb is a better person than I thought.

"Please, just call me Cat," she whispers back to him. Thank goodness for that! I wasn't going to get used to another name that's for sure!

Kaliana is forced to leave. I mean, _literally._ She has a job to do and buisness to attend to but she doesn't go down without a fight. Cat has to carry her, kicking and screaming, out of the room while she apologized over and over again to both Kaliana and Zeb. After the door shuts Zeb and I just stare at each other for a considerable amount of minutes.

"How are you Zeb?" I finally manage to get out.

"As you can probably tell, I've been better," he replies lightly.

We both fall silent again. I don't know what I should say. It never felt awkward before with him but when I open my mouth to try and say something, all I can think of is what happened to him back in the Capitol, and I shut up again in danger of sobbing.

"Kaliana missed you," I choke out eventually. Zeb looks up at me, his eyes are glazed over. It reminds me of the look my dad takes on when he's about to take an episode. I know he's remembering. What they did to him in that stinking Capitol? "I mean she _really _missed you. Zeb? Zeb, are you OK?"

"Prim-Primrose, I'm scared," he whispers.

"Don't be, your safe now," I shush, wrapping my arms round him and rocking him back and forth. It's scary how thin he is. It feels like he's going to snap like a twig.

"Primrose, I'm dying. I was dying there and I'm dying here. At least I can die a happy man from seeing Kaliana again I guess," Zeb says.

"Your not going to die," I say firmly. Zeb laughs as if it's the funniest thing he's heard in years.

"Primrose, I want to die. I deserve it," he mumbles.

"What? No! What the hell makes you think such a horrendous thing?!" I exclaim.

"I'm a murderer. I've taken innocent lives," he replies.

"Doesn't mean you deserve to die," I say.

"I do though. Don't you see? I do!"

I unclip his locket off my neck and pop it open. I show him the photos. The smiling faces of his family. "They don't believe you deserve to die."

"Carrie's dead and my parents are dying Primrose. They just want to keep the bloodline going," Zeb replies drily.

"No it's not! I mean, I know there's people out there who believe you can murder President Lynn but-"

"Wait, back up a moment," Zeb says, snapping the necklace shut again. "People think I can do what?"

"What?"

"You said people think I can murder. . .who?"

Crap. Did I say that?

"Wow, your injuries look really bad! I'll go find a medical kit!" I leap off the bed to escape the room but Zeb grabs my wrist before I can.

"Primrose, I've got _cancer_. The injuries are the least of my worries," he says. His eyes take over a sad look and his gaze flicks to the floor for a moment. "It's because of the family history isn't it?"

"Yes," I nod numbly.

"That's what they were talking about when Iana said about the Mells threoy isn't it?"

"Yeah," I reply. He lets go of my wrist. "I see," he says. "Primrose, can I have some time on my own?"

"Oh yeah, sure," I reply. I slowly walk towards the door. As my hand rests on the knob Zeb speaks up again.

"And Primrose?"

"Yeah?" I ask, turning back around.

"Thanks. For everything."

"Your welcome," I smile. I then leave the room, feeling the most uplifted I have in a long time.

**A/N: Well, there it is! Zeb is back in the group again! :)  
Reviewers get cyber-hugs! :D**


	42. Carrie Walls: Alive in our minds

**A/N:Chapter forty two! Here it goes, they're heading to District 5 now! :)**

Chapter Forty-Two-Carrie Walls: Alive in our minds

District 5 is where Kaliana lives. They all think she's dead. At least it'll give them some good news for once.

To break the tension between us all I grab Zeb and Maurice's hands outside the district fence the next morning. Zeb takes Kaliana's and Kaliana takes Cat, and we stand there. A team. Ready to bring down the Capitol. "Let's go!" I cheer, running down the slope, dragging everyone down with me.

We climb under the fence quickly so we aren't spotted; Zeb needing a bit of help from Kaliana due to his still evident weakness. As we head to the forest Kaliana skips ahead, a lot more pleasant than she was coming into District 4.

"Remember when I nearly hit your mentor with the arrow!" she laughed as she splashed through the water and climbed over various rocks.

"Yeah, she was really pissed with you you know!" Zeb laughs back.

"Well I missed her so she had no reason to be pissed!"

"You missed her by _inches_," Zeb corrects.

"Same diff!" Kaliana laughs.

"Has someone given you a personality implant?" Cat questions.

"Shut up!" Kaliana chuckles.

Finnick isn't with us. No matter how much we try to convince her it's OK, Cat doesn't trust Mr. Dalis. So Finnick has agreed to stay in district four with him to keep an eye with him. He has an updater to send to an exact same copy Cat has to tell her if anything's happened. We suggested for Zeb to stay in the district too but Kaliana was having none of it. She didn't want to be sepearated from him anymore.

As we make it back to the forest I feel something strange. As if something bad is about to happen. Approaching fast.

We've only been walking about a mile before Kaliana calls out for Zeb. I turn round quickly just in time to see Zeb himself run off into the trees. Cat, Maurice and I go over to join Kaliana and I wince as I hear Zeb being sick.

_"Primrose, chemotherapy has side effects. It can make you very ill and it might give him mouth ulsers. You need to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't exert himself."_

"Are you sure we shouldn't have just left him in District 4?" Maurice asks.

"No," Kaliana says firmly. "I'm not leaving him behind."

"Should one of us go and check he's OK?" Cat asks.

We hear him hurl again and we all frown a bit. Once the noise stops Kaliana calls, "Zeb? You OK?" A weak "Yeah," is all we get in reply. He emerges from the trees again and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Looks like you two won't be kissing for a while now," Cat grins. Kaliana glares but Zeb chuckles.

"Seems so," he says. "Unless you like the taste of vomit Kaliana?"

"Uh,no,not really," Kaliana admits. "You sure your OK?"

"Been better, still, can't complain," Zeb answers honestly.

"Are you OK to keep moving?" I ask.

"Sure. I'd hate to hold you all back anyway."

"You wouldn't be keeping us back," Kaliana insisted.

"Oh yeah, little miss, 'We'll take a rest as soon as we reach district 4!'" Cat says.

"Oh shut up Cat," Kaliana says.

"I'll be fine," Zeb assures.

"You sure?" Maurice asks.

"Yeah. Let's keep moving."

So we do. We keep moving. And moving and moving. The walk is just as extuciating as it was the first time so we decide to take a rest a mile after we passed the underground base exit through which we came out of to go to District 4.

For Zeb, this couldn't have happened fast enough.

I know he has Cancer but I never fully accepted it. Now that I see him so weak and tired I have nothing to do but accept it.

He has vomitted four times since we took off and looks about ready to pass out. Each one of us have had a go at carrying him (Kaliana going on further than the rest of us. She even starting _crawling_ with him round her shoulder once she fell) and he looks like he's about to drop dead any moment.

When we agree to take the break, Cat leans against a tree and wipes her forehead, Maurice sits on a log and takes a sip of water, Kaliana stays rooted to the spot and I roll my sleeves up and join Maurice.

Zeb grabs a piece of wood and pulls the only knife I have on me out of my pocket.

"Zeb, what are you doing?" Maurice asks.

"You should be resting sweetheart," Kaliana adds.

"I need to try something," Zeb says through gritted teeth as he starts to carve away at the wood.

I want to tell him he should rest. I want to tell him he should stop whatever he's doing but I have to admit I'm intrigued. The whole group sits and watchs as Zeb fashions a weird contraption out of wood, pulls a bit of string out of his pocket and ties it on both ends. I've seen this technique before haven't I? No. Wait, yes. He's doing something else now. Fashioning more wood into . . .

Arrows?

Oh my goodness! He's making a bow and arrow set!

"Zeb, do you really think that'll work?" Maurice asks, figuring it out at the same time as me.

"I don't know. That's why I want to try it out," Zeb replies. His work is shabby, since he has done it very quickly.

My breath involunterrily hitches in excitement as I see him stand up with it in his hands. He looks so much like himself again as he postions himself and the bow properly. He checks he's getting the alignment right before he sits back down and continues to work.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I ask curiously.

"If an animal that was scheduled for slaughter escaped then we'd shoot it instead of spending half the day chasing them," Zeb explained. "I helped construct the bows." He held the bow in the air again and shot an arrow at a tree. It stuck fast to the bark.

"Are you sure that would work on somebody?" Cat questioned.

"I dunno," Zeb shurgged. "Want me to try and see?" He spun round and pointed his newly loaded bow at Cat. Everyone stayed rooted to the spot while Zeb also stayed where he was, his arrow postioned perfectly to hit Cat in the heart. Cat's eyes were practically popping out of her head and her lips were slightly parted, as if to say something she couldn't think of.

After about two terrifying minutes of watching on Zeb burst out laughing and lay back on the ground. "Did you really think I'd shoot you?" he cackled.

"Zeb that wasn't funny," Kaliana giggled.

Even Cat couldn't help giggling. Maurice was trying to hide his grin with his arm and I just straight out laughed.

"Consider that your punishment," Zeb said to Cat. "For what you did."

"If that's the case you should have shot me," Cat replied.

"I think I've killed enough people to last me a lifetime," Zeb shrugged.

"You know they weren't your fault," I interject.

"Whose were they then?" Zeb asks.

"Well, it was Jamica's fault you killed that girl in the tree!" I say. "And you killed Teggs because she killed Carrie." He flinches when I say her name.

"And the others?"

I bite my lip as I try to think of something to say.

"Were self defence," Kaliana says for me.

"Doesn't make it better," Zeb says back.

"We've all got scars," Maurice says. "Done things we're not proud of, but you need to keep moving on or you'll just. . .stop."

"There's many of us who have stopped," I put it. "Doesn't help."

"Hmmph," is all he comes out with. Kaliana nudges him with the toe of her boot. "Come on Zeb, it's true," she says.

"Hmmph," he says again.

"This is because of Carrie isn't it?" I ask. "Your still blaming youself for her death."

"Hmmph."

"I swear to god if I hear one more 'hmmph' I'm going to scream," Cat grumbled, earning a whack on the arm from Kaliana.

"Carrie isn't dead you know," I say, ignoring the grumbling Cat and seething Kali. Zeb pops an eye open curiously at my words. "She's alive in our minds. Your mind more so than the rest of us."

"Yeah!" Maurice says, clicking his fingers. "Tells us about her."

"What?"

"What was Carrie like?" I prompt.

"You know, you saw her."

"No, you know what we mean," I say.

"Tell us the things you wouldn't get from a couple of days sitting," Cat says. "You lived with her for eleven years."

"Come on, your only letting her die out," Kaliana insists. "Tell. Us. About. Her."

"Fine," Zeb sighs. "Carrie. . .uh . . .her favourite colour was yellow. Bright and vibrate like her personality. She hated ladybirds. They freaked her out. I dunno what it was about them that weirded her out but they just did. She. . . uh . . .loved singing to the nest of birds that lived in our backyard. She hated my job . . .she'd cry every night I came home with blood on my shirt from animal slaughter day. She was bullied in school but had one friend. Kaleb, I think his name was."

"Like a boyfriend?" Cat questions. We're all gathered in a circle round him, intent on keeping his little sister alive in his mind.

"Not exactly. They were just friends. I have a feeling they might have became steady when they. . .grew up you know? But. . .uh. . . he died last year. Carrie took him to the horse field on his birthday to show him the animals. They didn't know the proper precautions for being around horses. Carrie was feeding one of the horses some hay while Kaleb walked round the back of the animal. The horse kicked back and hit him in the head. Carrie managed to drag him to our local healer's domain before he fell into unconciousness."

"Did he die right away?" I ask, curious.

"No, he didn't. He didn't even die in the healer's domain," Zeb says.

"Where then?" Kaliana asks. It seems we're all hooked on this story.

"One thing Kaleb always wanted to do was meet our cow, Milky Way. So, after three days in the Healer's domain Carrie snuck in at 9:oopm, I still don't know how she got out without me noticing, and took him to see Milky Way in a wheelchair."

"And. . . ?" I prompt.

"He died there. In the stables, with Carrie by his side."

"Sounds like something out of a movie," Kaliana breathes.

"Yeah. It tore her up inside."

"At least she's with him right?" I ask.

"I guess so . . ."

"If you keep the nice thoughts about her in your head then there's nothing to worry about is there? She'll be as vivid and alive as the photo in your locket," I say.

"And never, ever, blame yourself for her death," Kaliana adds.

"If anything it was my fault," I shrug. "I said to leave the cave. That she'd be fine for half an hour while we hunt stupid rabbits."

"Don't blame yourself Primrose. It was my fault. Not yours. It was my responsiblity it care for her," Zeb says. "And I failed."

"Oh come on! Seriously, it wasn't your fault," Cat insists. "Sure, you left her out of your sight for what? Ten minutes? You couldn't predict that Teggs would come in that time!"

"But it was my job to think ahead to that sort of plausiable senario," Zeb points out.

"It's not your fault!" I burst out in irritation.

"You know, no matter how many times you say it won't make it so," Zeb says.

"God your so frustrating!" Cat exclaims, falling flat onto her back on the grass. "Kaliana, how can you stick him?"

"Must be my charm and devastating good looks huh Kali?" Zeb grins.

"Oh shut up Zeb," Kaliana grinned, playfully whacking him on the arm.

"And don't forget to keep that little girl alive in your mind," Maurice says.

"Because if you do, she'll always be there. Alive," I say.

Because it's true. And nothing will ever kill of Carrie Walls. I'd like to see them try.

**A/N: I hope you liked the story about Carrie and Kaleb. Very emotional I know, I know :)**

**Reviewers get cyber-hugs! :D**


	43. Video 76

Chapter Forty Three-Video 76

We reach district 5 the next day. The sky is overcast as we approach the fence and the grass seems to die off into real brown dusty ground the closer we get .

"Get ready for doom and gloom," Kaliana mutters as we reached the fence.

"What, why?" Maurice asks.

"Oh, it's lovely back there in district 4. Beaches and sunshine. Here it's power plants and telephone poles and skies grayer than a graphite pencil," Kaliana explains. "It's a real atmosphere change."

"I see," Cat says as she yanks the fence out from the ground.

"Couldn't you have done that in District 4?" I ask as she pulls more bits of fence out.

"I was playing annoying bitch when we were going into District 4," Cat explains. "It was quite fun if I'm honest."

I roll my eyes and help her pull the last bit of fence out of the ground.

"Hold on!" Zeb says just as Cat goes to climb under.

"What?"

"Kaliana, is there an inside man here?"

"Uh. . . no," Kaliana replies.

"Then we're going to have to be careful yes? We're going to have to go into. . . like. . .ninja spy mode," Zeb explains.

"Oh I've always wanted to be a ninja!" Maurice exclaims, doing a karate chop in mid-air.

"Since when?" I ask. He's never mentioned that before.

"Since always!" Maurice replies defensively.

"I thought you wanted to handle a trident like your dad?"

"Ninjas can have tridents!"

"No they can't! They have ninja stars and swords and-"

"Can we move on?" Kaliana interjects.

"Oh yeah sure!"

So we all go into Ninja mode. Once we're under the fence we scoot along it into a clump of bushes by an old shabby house.

"So what do we do now?" I pant as we huddle in the branches.

"Well the festival of light isn't for another two days," Kaliana says, batting a leaf away from her face. "That's really the only time everyone would be gathered together bar the reapings."

"So were do we hide out?" Cat asks.

"I don't have all the answers now do I?"

"So you didn't plan this out?" Maurice asks.

"Well no," Kaliana answers.

"What about your family?" Zeb questions.

"They hate me. Harrie was sugarcoating it when they said they were devastated when I died. Reyna was always their favourite," Kaliana says sadly. "If I come back to them begging for shelter they'll send me away."

"Then what do we do?" Maurice sighs. "We can't hide out in the bushes for two days like hobos!"

"We'll think of something," Kaliana said with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"I think I'm going to hurl again," Zeb grumbled.

"Well don't do it on me!" Cat shrieked.

This time I slap Cat on the arm. "You OK Zeb?" I ask as she grumbles and rubs her arm. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I'll be OK," he says as he breathes out.

"Seriously, we need to find somewhere to go," Maurice whispers.

"Well I don't see anyone pitching any bright ideas!" Cat hisses.

"Why don't you come with me?"

All five of us turn to find the source of the speaker and find a woman with black greasy hair and hazel eyes smiling gently at us.

"Miss. Teatry?" Kaliana frowns. "How did you know where to find us?"

"Not hard really," Miss. Teatry smiles. "Five people smuggle themselves under a fence and then hide in the bushes by my house. It's not hard to put two and two together."

"But why would you help us? We never helped you in any way!" Kaliana says.

"Uh, hello?" Cat interuppts. "I'm a bit lost here. As I'm sure my other companions here are too so would you mind filling us in. . .on who you are and why the hell you want to help us?"

"Cat!" Kaliana barks. "Don't talk to Miss. Teatry like that!"

"Please, call me Beetra. Beetra Teatry," Miss. Teatry says.

"Harrie's mother," Kaliana explains.

I snap out of whatever daze of silence I've been submitted to and frown. "Harrie's mum? Why would you want to help us?"

"I want the Hunger Games to end just as much as the next person," Beetra says in a hushed voice. "That is what your trying to accomplish right?"

"How can we trust you?" Maurice asks curiously.

At that, Zeb spins round and hurls up whatever food he had left in his stomach. Beetra winces and dangles the key to her house in her hands. "At this point I don't think you have much of a choice."

~xXx~

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it, I think hiding out in Beetra's house was a good decision. She was more than happy to let us stay in her basement for the next couple of days until the festival of light.

Zeb is sleeping right at this very moment, completely dead to the world. Kaliana is sitting beside him, staring mindlessly into the distance. Cat is sitting on her head. I don't know why she's sitting on her head, she just is. Maurice is beside Cat, holding her feet against the wall to keep her on her head and to prevent her from falling flat on her face. I decide to take a wander round Beetra's house to pass some time.

Beetra herself is away to work her shift at the power plant so I'm free to wander and be as nosy as I want to.

As I'm passing by the kitchen I find a knife lying on the counter. I discretly pick it up and tie it to my ankle with a wrist strap that's hanging on a key holder with multiple key chains, one set of keys and a torch on a string. I'm sure Beetra won't miss it anyway. I hope she won't anyway. It makes me feel more like myself again when it's tied there.

As I'm leaving the kitchen I accidently kick a video tape that's on the floor.

A video tape with a number 76 carefully printed on it.

A million thoughts flood my head as I carefully scoop the tape off the floor and turn it round in my hands. It's pristine, maybe about a month old. I self conciously approach Beetra's t.v in her living room and put the tape in.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the 76th Annual Hunger Games!" Claudious Templesmith booms on the tape. I gasp and switch it back off. They've got it out on video already? How can that be even possible? They normally don't do video releases of a games until the Victory Tour is over with!

"What's up Rosey?" Cat's voice called, pierecing through my thoughts. I turn to look at her and faintly smile as I see the small bruise appearing under her eye.

"Maurice give up on you then?" I ask.

"Yup, impatient sod," Cat replies as she drops down onto the sofa beside me.

"Hey, that's my fiance your talking about!" I laugh.

"I know, I know. So what'cha doin'?" Cat asks in a sing song voice.

"I picked a tape off the floor," I say bluntly.

"Oh cool! Play it!" Cat exclaimed, snatching the remote out of my hands before I could protest and pressing play. "Oh look! It's your games!"

"No kidding!" I say in a sarcastic tone.

"Let's watch!"

"What? No!"

"Look, it's just a death highlight tape! No harm no fowl," Cat insisted.

"Yeah, the death highlights are the worst!" I reply.

"Pllleeeeaaaasssseeee," Cat droned on.

I roll my eyes and cross my arms across my chest. "Fine."

"Ah, really? I didn't think you'd say yes! Look, this will be great, believe me. Facing your demons and stuff."

"If you say so."

Facing my demons? What? How is seeing 22 girls die all over again going to help me what? Resolve my differences? I doubt that very highly. On the basis of humility I guess it might help. But I don't think so.

Still, the seal of the Capitol appeared on the screen and '76th Annual Hunger Games Death Highlights' appeared in front of it in big bold letters.

The whole point of the death highlights is to show the best deaths backwards from number ten. It's sickening really. Like a stupid _Who dunit?_ countdown for a patheic soap. The first four are taken up with partically gruesome deaths at the cornucopia bloodbath. I guess I don't feel as much remorse towards them as I didn't know them as well as I did, say, Meladina or Harrie.

I only tune in when people I allied myself with start appearing.

Annabelle is number six. The footage of Jamica shooting her up the chin isn't as emotional since Reyna's reaction is clearly displayed as she shouts 'God!' as the blood splatters.

Ophelia is number five. I watch in complete relived horror as Reyna snaps her neck in two. You can just see me off to the side, looking rabid and nuts, looking on with shock by Tegg's body.

Speaking of Teggs, she's number four. The footage is in the cave and she's just stood up from killing Carrie, the view of the body blocked by Teggs herself, when Zeb screams, "CARRIE!" and immediately shoots Teggs in the heart with his usual accuarcy.

Number three is Harrie. Zeb, Reyna and me by her side as she scrabbles at the air and tells Zeb that Kaliana loves her. Off to the side, the cameras close in on Meladina in the forest, whispering some sort of mantra to herself.

Number two is unbearable. It's Carrie. It shows her waking up from her nap. Teggs slowly sneaks into the cave with her knife in her hand. Carrie's clever though, she immediately notices her and starts to scream for Zeb. I almost choke when I realize she can't move because Zeb tied her up with the creepers to keep her from killing me.  
"Your big brother isn't coming girlie!" Teggs hissed as she grabbed Carrie by the hair and dragged her to her feet. Carrie continued to scream none the less. Teggs drags her knife across her neck and the blood immediately starts spurting out. She drops her to the ground and starts kicking her in the stomach as the blood slowly drains from her neck.

I feel tears spurting down my cheeks and I'm about to tell Cat to turn it off when I realize who number one is.

It's Zeb and me. The footage shows me ranting to Zeb as he slowly takes some of the nightlock berries out of Reyna's hands. We both look a sight and I never realized how crazy, rattled and messy we both looked until I see it played back. Zeb quietly says, "Bye Primrose," and I whip round in time to see him swallow it. I catch him as he falls and I beg him to stay with me. I can't see him properly anymore as my hair has fallen over my shoulders and has obsurced the view of both of us. You can see us properly again when I snatch some berries of my own and start screaming at Lynn and telling her to help him. I look even more rabid as I scream. It's strange, seeing yourself on t.v, especially seeing yourself 'die' on t.v. I fall over Zeb's body when I eat the berries.

"TURN IT OFF!" I eventually manage to scream, making Cat jump out of her skin. She immediately hits the stop button and the t.v turns to static. "I can't take that!" I sob. Cat nods in understandment and wraps me into a hug.

"Guys, we're going for a walk do you want to-wow, what's happening here?" Kaliana frowns, coming out from the basement.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," I say, wiping my eyes.

"Just don't let Zeb watch that tape," Cat orders.

"Why?" Kaliana asks.

"Just don't!" I snap.

"Alright, alright," Kaliana says, raising her hands in self defence. "Do you want to come on a walk or not?"

"I thought we had to be careful?" I frown.

"Zeb's suffocating and Maurice is getting claustrophobic, I think we need to go outside for a bit," Kaliana says.

"Uh. . .OK, I'll come," I say. "I need some air anyway."

"I might as well come too then," Cat sighs, rubbing her face and getting to her feet.

"Let's go then," Kaliana says.

We all agree on just taking a small walk up the footpath and back so we don't get caught.

It still wasn't enough though.

On our way back up the footpath we run into a peacekeeper.


	44. Split Up

**A/N:Hey guys! Early update! Yay! I'm updating early because I'll be busy doing a front of house tomorrow and won't have time to post an update so here it is! Chapter forty four!**

**Also, I recently got my hunger games books back from my cousin and I've realized that I've gotten Prim's hair colour wrong! :O  
Still, I'd rather her have blonde hair. It suits the story better. So keep imaging her with blonde hair and grey eyes. Kay? :)**

Chapter Forty-Four- Split Up

As any capitolite would, the peacekeeper recognizes Zeb and I immediately as the 'victors' of the Hunger Games who sadly 'passed away.' He looks dumbstruck for a moment before he comes to his senses and starts shouting into his radio.

The five of us spin around and go to run down the footpath again but are met by more peacekeepers approaching us. "You two need to run!" Cat orders Zeb and I.

"We're not leaving you!" I declare.

"We'll be fine Primrose," Maurice assures as more peacekeepers appear. "If any two people can convince the districts to uprise it's you and Zeb."

"He's right Zeb!" Kaliana says.

"I'm not leaving any of you!" Zeb says back.

"No! You need to go!"

My eyes fly from Maurice, to Kaliana, to Cat, to Zeb and back to Maurice. I know what they're saying is true but I can't just leave them!

"I can't just leave you!" I say, voicing my thoughts. "I just can't!"

Maurice sighs and pulls me into a kiss. I start to cry because I know what he's doing. It's a goodbye kiss. When I pull away he looks at me deeply and says firmly, "Please Primrose, go, I promise we'll see each other again when this is over." I nod as more tears spurt down my cheeks. Maurice never lies to me. I know I'll see him again.

I turn to Zeb and find that's he agrueing animately with Kaliana.

"I'm not going anywhere Kali!" He snaps.

"Yes you are!" Kaliana snaps back. "If you love me you'll go!"

"I'm not leaving you Kali!"

"Oh you buffoon!" Kaliana declares, grabbing him by his shirt and kissing him just like Maurice did me. When she pulls away she lightly laughs but has tears streaming down her face. "Please go, I'll be fine, I love you Zebby."

"I love you too Kali," Zeb whispers back, pulling her into a quick hug.

"Here," Cat says. She takes my hands and presses something into them. "It's my Capitol updater, take it. It'll help you keep in contact with Finnick and see what's happening in the Capitol."

I nod and pocket the updater.

"Come on guys we need to distract them!" Cat shouts, running further into the open where the peacekeepers are approaching.

I gasp as a gunshot rings out and Cat falls to the ground. "CAT!" I scream at the top of my lungs.

"It hit her in the arm!" Kaliana shouts, running over to Cat. "GO! We'll look after her!"

"Go Prim!" Maurice snaps, pushing me away. "You too Zeb!"

"CAT!" I shout again.

"Primrose she's fine!" Kaliana shouts back. "JUST GO!"

"Come on Primrose," Zeb says, grabbing my elbow.

"Wait!" I snap. "Are you sure I'll see you again?"

Maurice smiles sadly. "I swear by it."

I nod and peck him on the cheek before dragging Zeb along with me down a dusty alleyway. Three more gunshots ring out and I spin back round on my heel. "Prim!" Zeb snaps. I turn to look him in the eye and he looks at me warily. "I can't carry you Prim. You know this is the right thing to do. We need to keep moving."

I know he can't carry me. Maybe that means I can go back without being stopped. . .

"Prim, it's not them that was shot. I can grantuee that," Zeb says.

"How do you know?" I hiss.

"Because do you honestly think they'd kill people they could use against us?" he hisses back angrily. My mouth opens to reply but nothing comes out. He's right. So right that I'm terrified.

"Then why can't we go back for them?" I whisper.

"Because you and I both know that this is the right thing to do, no matter how much it hurts," he replies. I didn't notice he was crying too until now.

"I can't leave them there," I whimper.

"And you think I want to?" Zeb snaps, coming up to me and grabbing me by my wrist. "We need to go."

I nod weakly and let him pull me down the alley. We work our way back to Beetra's house where we both run inside and down into the basement. Once inside I fall to my knees and start to sob. They're going to take them! They're going to take them to the Capitol and torture them like they did my dad, Johanna and Maurice's mother. Suddenly something makes me sob harder.

"What if they hijack him?!" I cry out. "What if they hijack Maurice?!"

Zeb doesn't reply because I know he can't. He can't gaurentee that they'll not hijack Maurice to hate me like they did my father to my mother. What if they hijack Kaliana to hate Zeb? What would they do to Cat? Lynn's own half cousin? She abused her power as an UCCA. Surely she's going to be in deep trouble for that!

Zeb kneels beside me and wraps his arms round me. I cry even more as I feel his own tears drip onto my face as he rests his chin on my head.

"They're going to hurt it," he mumbles quietly once we've stopped crying.

"Hurt what?" I manage to whisper.

"They're going to hurt my baby," he whispers back. I nod in understandment. They're going to hurt both our true loves. Maurice is my baby just as much as Kaliana is Zeb's.

"I know the feeling," I answer.

"I'll never get to meet him," Zeb continues.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"My baby," Zeb replies.

"You mean a _real_ baby?!" I exclaim.

"Yes, I real baby," Zeb frowns. "What did you think I was talking about?"

"Kaliana!" I reply, completely flabberghasted.

"What? No!" Zeb exclaims. "Kaliana's pregnant!"

"WHAT?!" I almost yell. "I thought you couldn't have children!"

"Seems like nature had other plans," Zeb mutters quietly. "On the second day at the training center Kaliana was so depressed she managed to find the gamemaker's stash of alcohol and she invited me to her room for a drink. We were both as depressed as each other and ended up. . .you know. . .because we were so drunk. Kaliana was worried about protection but I explained at I couldn't have children so there was no problem."

"But. . .but. . .WHAT?!" I exclaim again.

"Immaculate conception," Zeb muses. "She told me the first night when she came back to her room later on. . .I don't want them to hurt my baby Primrose!"

I still stunned but I shake myself out of it out of concern for Zeb's situation. "They won't. We're going to get them to uprise."

"But the Festival of Light isn't for another two days," Zeb points out tiredly. "President Lynn could do so much to them in two days."

"Your right. . ." I trail off. "What's the closest occasion in the closest district?"

"District 7 have an event were they worship Mother Nature," Zeb answers. "I think it's tomorrow."

"Then we'll head to district 7 early in the morning tomorrow," I say firmly. "We'll come back here for the time of the Hunger Games highlights. Everyone will be gathered in one place then."

"Sounds like a plan," Zeb says sadly.

I touch his cheek gently and say as softly as I can muster, "They're not going to hurt your baby Zeb, I promise."

"You also said that Carrie would be safe," Zeb says under his breath. Ok, that stung a lot, but he's hurting. Very painfully. The Cancer's eating him up but at least he's holding on. The least thing he should need to worry about is the welfare of his secret immaculate unborn child. I know what it feels like to want to protect your baby before it's even out of your stomach and in your arms. You love them unconditionly as soon as you find out they're there. I also know the pain of losing your baby. Your world crashes down around you and you feel like the world has ended and nothing will ever pick you up again. If I have my way, Zeb will never have to go through that pain. Ever.

We both fall asleep so we'll be rested up for heading to District 7 tomorrow. I suspected there would be nightmares but I'm shocked when I wake up from a dreamless sleep by the Capitol updater beeping. I groan and snuggle up closer to Zeb, who I'm leaning on. I feel him sigh and pull the updater out of my pocket. I'm all intent of falling alseep until I hear him gulp.

"What is it?" I ask sleepily.

"Well, they did take Cat, Kaliana and Maurice to the Capitol," Zeb mutters sadly.

"But?" I question by his tone of voice.

"_But_ they attacked the underground base," Zeb answers.

"What?" I gasp, sitting up right.

"Prim, when I tell you this, please stay calm," Zeb almost begs.

"I'm promising nothing," I answer definatly.

"Fine," Zeb sighs, exasperated.

"So . . . ?"

"They have your family."

**A/N:DUN, DUN, DUNNNN!  
Ok, yeah, they've got Prim's family, Maurice, Kaliana, Cat and Zeb and Kaliana's unborn child! Oh no! What will happen!  
Speaking of Zeb and Kaliana's unborn child, it will not be the last you hear of it (obviously) but you may or may not get to meet that child later. And not as a baby! Oops did I just give away a spoiler? Or are you confused? Meh, it'll be explained later! :D  
Please R&R! CYBER-HUGS ARE FREE FOR THOSE WHO DO!**


	45. A different point of view

**A/N:OMG an other early update! Shock horror! :0**

**LoL, I've posted this early because I want your opinion. This chapter isn't in Primrose's POV, it's in Katniss' POV so you can see what happens in the Capitol while she's trapped with Peeta, Gale, Kaliana, Cat and Maurice. I would like to know what you think of the change of POV and whether I should keep going with it along with Prim's POV.**

Chapter Forty Five- A different point of View

I watch in stunned silence as Cat screams and kicks our cell, demanding that Lynn grow a pair and face her. Her arm is bleeding heavily but is bandaged well. I keep Gale in my arms and hush him everytime he whimpers in fear. Maurice is sitting beside me with his head in hands. He hasn't spoken since we were put in here. Kaliana is huddled in the corner with her arms wrapped around her stomach in a protective brace. I haven't been the most perceptive person lately but I'm guessing she's pregnant.

Even with my little boy shaking like a leaf in my arms I'm most scared of Peeta. Not just for him but _of_ him. This is too much for him. I've been watching him like a hawk for the past 4 hours since we've been put in here, just waiting for him to explode like a volcano. So far, he's just been sitting in the corner, diagnol from the one Kaliana is sitting in, and has been staring into space, his pupils rapidly dilateing to golf balls then pin points and back to normal again. There's too many people at stake just inside this room if he takes a violent episode.

Cat punches the locked door and gasps out in pain. "God!" she shouts, shaking her hand out of pain.

"Sit down Cat," Maurice mumbles. "There's no point."

"Yes there is!" She snaps back, kicking the door powerfully. I admire Cat. She won't go down without a fight. She is nothing like President Lynn.

I'm worried about Primrose. My little girl. I remember when she was just a little girl with braided hair and a big grin on her first day of school. I remember when we taught her how to ride a bike, how she passed the knowledge onto Gale, how he believed she was a fairy. I remember when she introduced me to Maurice and Peeta and I got back in touch with Annie after so long. I remember when she took a fit when she found out she was pregnant. When she screamed at Maurice but wouldn't give the baby away. Then the miscarriage, the misery, the reaping of the games.

My little Primrose trapped in that goddamn arena where I swore I'd never let my children go. The whole reason I didn't want to have children in the first place. I remember when they told us Zeb and her had died. Peeta went into a horrible depression and wouldn't speak to us for days. I'm suprised he didn't have an episode. Gale burst into tears and threw the remote control at the t.v, screaming it was all a lie. I also remember being taken to 13 and meeting her again. She was so brave, but she had grown up much faster than she should of because of the games.

I was informed that Finnick was alive a couple days after Primrose, Maurice, Kaliana and Cat left for District 4. Some light through the fog. Then I found out Primrose and Maurice were getting married. Even better! And then Zeb and Finnick were rescued. I actually believed things were looking up.

Zeb is a brilliant guy. I couldn't ask for anyone better to be Primrose's best friend. I know what the games can do to people and it's nice to have someone who went through them too as a close friend. Even better, they were in the _same_ games. I can also sympathise with him. He lost his little sister Carrie. I could see how lost Primrose was when it happened because she didn't know what to do or say. She didn't know what it felt like. But I do. I lost Prim. And if we get through this I'm going to tell Zeb that if he ever wants to talk to me about it then he can come to me because I understand. It's the least I can after he protected my baby. Same with Kaliana I guess. She lost Reyna, her twin. I want to help everyone who looked after and helped Primrose really. I can't show how greatful I'am for them sticking by her when everyone else was out to get her. I wish I could show everyone anyway. Zeb, Maurice, Kaliana, Cat, Reyna, Zara, Meladina, and even Jamica in the end. I want to show them that I care. That I'm grateful. But I can't and I'm not sure how to. Especially since the retched games killed off four of them.

Cat gives the door a final kick and leaps backwards as it slides open and Lynn walks in. Her light blonde hair tied back tightly in a ponytail, her almost red like eyes scanning evilly between the six of us. Cat growls and immediately takes a run at her. A peacekeeper easily pushes her back though.

"Ah Aliya," Lynn grins down on her cousin. "It's nice to see you again."

"My name is Cat," Cat growls back.

"Oh yes, that's right, you changed it," Lynn says. "What are you wearing then _Cat_?"

"Cat Telwan Snow," Cat replies, not a hint of fear in her voice.

"Oh that's funny," Lynn smiles. "_Telwan._ Brilliant annagram! You really should stop telling lies to people Aliya. Maybe then they'd believe you more."

"People believe me," Cat says defiantly.

"Oh yes, _Cat Telwan_ Snow. Are you sure you don't mean Aliya Walten Snow?"

"Oh piss off," Cat snarls.

I understand why Cat wouldn't want people to know her real name. She has a bad past and a new name is like an escape from that all. A fresh start.

"Aren't you forgetting something Cat?" Lynn grins maliciously.

Cat glares at Lynn expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

"Don't you want to hear about Newesy?" Lynn asks innocently.

I don't recognize the name but it jolts Cat from her spot on the ground. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!" She screams at the top of her lungs.

"Oh don't worry, she's perfectly safe. . .for now," Lynn replies.

"YOU BITCH!" Cat takes another leap at Lynn but once again she's pushed to the ground by a peacekeeper. "Don't hurt her! Please! You know I love her! Please!"

Oh. . . I see. Cat's in love. With a girl. Nothing wrong with that. Lynn must have Newesy then.

"Does Miss. Lakaery know what you did to Zeb?" Lynn questions.

"No," Cat answers coldly, her face closing off into an unreadable mask. The type of face I used to put on all the time when I was sixteen. But what did she do to Zeb then?

"It would be a shame if she found out wouldn't it?" Lynn muses. "Her girlfriend being paid to rape an innocent district 10 boy who has Cancer _and_ causes him to be unable to have children? Tut, tut, Cat."

"I did it to protect her and my family," Cat hisses.

"Ah but will Newesy see it that way?" Lynn replies.

"She'll know I wouldn't do it without reason," Cat says acidly.

"Of course, because your in love yes? Ah, Cat and Newesy. You getting married then? Oh wait, you can't can you?" Lynn teases. Even I'm at a boiling point now and she hasn't even started on me yet.

"Civil Partnership," Cat says through gritted teeth.

"Oh yes! Is she taking your name?"

"TO HELL SHE IS!" Cat shouts. "I'm changing my name! I'll be Cat Telwan Lakaery!"

"Father would be disappointed in you!" Lynn hisses.

"And I'm proud of it!" Cat hisses back.

Lynn scowls and then turns her gaze to Kaliana. "And how are you Kaliana? Holding out well?" she asks her.

"Go to hell," Kaliana snaps.

"Oh touchy," Lynn grins.

"Just leave her alone," Cat snaps. "She's not in form for this crap."

"And why ever not?" Lynn asks.

"Do you really think we'd tell you?" Maurice sighs, finally lifting his head up from his hands.

"You'd have to, or I'll take one of you right now and force it out of you," Lynn replies with a shrug. She knows somethings up. No-one speaks but the air seems to have been sucked out of the room as Lynn's eyes fall on Kaliana's stomach and the grip she has on it. "Oh, I see. Miracle child?"

"You go near that baby and I'll slaughter you with my own hands," Cat snaps. "And you know I would."

"Zeb's then I assume?" Lynn asks, ignoring Cat's threat.

"Of course," Kaliana spits.

"Ah, I haven't heard of a case of immaculate conception in a long time," Lynn muses. "I'm sure it'll be a very beautiful baby. Very . . . red hair."

"Is that an insult?" Kaliana snaps.

"Figure it out for yourself ginger," Lynn says back disdainfully.

Kaliana opens her mouth to speak but Cat manages to fly at Lynn and get a slap across her cheek. This time the peacekeeper punches her and throws her back to the floor. I wrap my arms tighter around Gale, making a protective cage, and hide his face away in my chest. Lynn rubs her cheek and laughs manically.

"Oh Cat, you haven't changed a bit," she chuckles as Cat pushes her upper body of the ground. I feel Maurice tense beside me. I know he's starting to get annoyed. He's not known for his patience and I know he hates Lynn and the Capitol. I don't want him doing anything he'll regret so I put a hand on his shoulder. He turns and looks at me and I shake my head slightly. He nods in actknowledgement to my gesture.

Lynn seems to notice our short exchange. "And how are you then Maurice? Fairing well without Primrose?"

Maurice doesn't reply. He just stares defianetly into Lynn's eyes. A sign to say, _Don't patronize me or you won't know what hit you._ Lynn seems undeterred though as she tries a different tack. "Is the thought of more babies being around making you grumpy then? Getting jealous of Kaliana and Zeb are we?"

Oh no. She did not just go there. I did not just hear that. Did I? I go to grab his hand to stop him from doing anything he'll regret but I'm not fast enough and he's over and is towering a couple of inches above Lynn intimedateinly. Lynn doesn't back away or shrink back. She looks up at him with a smirk. "Hit a nerve did I?" she chuckles.

"Don't you dare talk about my baby ever," he hisses. "You are unworthy to even speak in reference to him. No, I'm not jealous of Kaliana and Zeb. Their baby is a miracle and a blessing as well."

Lynn barked out a laugh and the peacekeeper wedged himself between them as he could see the anger in Maurice's eyes and even I could tell that he was seconds away from punching Lynn in the jaw. He just scowled at the peacekeeper and went and sat back down beside me.

By this point I could feel Gale shaking. I was worried to make my grip on him any tighter in case I cut off his circulation so I started to shush him gently instead. I kiss the top of his head and rock back and forth a bit. "Aw, so sweet," Lynn's voice dragging me out of my mantra of comforting my son. I look up and glare at her, letting Gale try and hide further into me. He's terrified and I'm terrified for him. "A bond between mother and son."

"Shut up," I hiss, voice full of venom.

"Are you missing Primrose then Katniss?" she asks. "Your own daughter?"

"You know the answer to that. What am I going to say? No?" I ask sarcastically.

Lynn laughs but doesn't push further. I wonder why for a moment but then I catch something. She keeps giving nervous glances in Peeta's direction, as if expecting him to pounce on her any second. She knows her father hijacked him and probably knows how dangerous it is for him to be back here.

She's scared of him.

The thought makes me smirk. President Lynn, the most powerful being in Panem, scared of the most gentle, caring, sweet, and kind man you'll ever meet in your life.

She doesn't even bother to try and annoy him. She's pretty much steering completely clear of him.

"What is it you want anyway?" Kaliana asks tiredly.

"Oh, I was just collecting one of you to. . .interrogate on Primrose and Zeb's plan," Lynn replies causally. She strolls over to me, making me tense a bit. She kneels before me and scruffs Gale's hair. A growl rumbles in the back of my throat as mother's instinct. Lynn looks me in the eye and grins before standing up and turning to the peacekeeper.

"Take the boy," she says.

This releases absolute hell on earth. I'm immediately on my feet and have Gale behind me in a heart beat. He clings to me in fear. Cat starts screaming and jumps on the peacekeepers back while Kaliana gets up and is beside me and Gale in a flash and helps create a protective wall around my son. Maurice is yelling and swearing at the peacekeeper, who easily throws Cat off his back and heads towards Kaliana and I. Maurice gets in the way but the peacekeeper pulls out a taser and tases him at the waist without a blink of an eye.

"Maurice!" I gasp as he falls to the ground, unconcious. Kaliana and I press Gale against the wall with our backs. He's crying now and has his face pressed against my back to hide his face. The peacekeeper pushes Kaliana to the ground with ease and I'm so caught off guard as I worry about the baby that he gets past me and has a hold of Gale round the waist.

"Mum!" Gale screeches. I grab his hands and dig my heels into the ground and pull back. "Don't worry Gale I'm here!" I reply.

"Don't let them take me mum!" he pleads.

"I won't Gale I promise!" I reply, tightening my grip on his hands and pulling back again. I can soon feel my hands slipping out of his and tears start running down my face. "Don't take my boy Lynn please! He doesn't know anything!"

Lynn doesn't reply as my hands finally slip out of his and the peacekeeper takes the moment to get as far from me as possible. Gale starts kicking and struggling and screaming. As I start screaming at Lynn to let him go Cat grabs onto the peacekeeper's legs and wraps herself round them. Kaliana gets up off the floor, slowly but surely, and pounces onto his back.

"ENOUGH!" Peeta suddenly shouts.

The whole room falls silent and we all gape at him. He hasn't spoken since we arrived, and if I come to think of it, he hasn't shouted like that in years. He's standing up and has a look of pure rage on his face. He isn't having a flashback though. I know when he's having them and he's definetly not having one right now.

No-one dares move. The slightest act of violence could set him off. Kaliana climbs as gently as she can off the peacekeeper's back and Cat untangles herself from his legs. We watch as he marches over to the peacekeeper who still has Gale in his grasp, punches him in the jaw and snatches Gale back. Gale immediately clings to him and starts to cry.

"It's OK son, your fine now," Peeta soothes, rubbing his back comfortinly as he shushes him. "Shush, your safe. It's all OK, dad's here."

"Ah Mr. Mellark, it's great you can finally join us," Lynn grins, ignoring her injured peacekeeper.

"Can't say the same about you," Peeta shoots back, looking over Gale's shoulder to glare at her.

"How are the episodes?" Lynn asks.

"Stressful and frequent, but I'm sure you know all that," Peeta answers acidly.

"Heard there was a suicide attempt recently. Bit dramatic, even for you," Lynn says.

"Don't you dare bring that up!" I snap, coming up beside Peeta. "That was not his fault."

"Yes, yes, it's the remaining venom's fault," Lynn replies dismissively. She eyes Peeta warily for a moment. I smirk and say, "Seems to frighten you enough."

"Nothing frightens me," Lynn answers, her tone cracking.

"Course," I reply sarcastically. "Except tracker jacker venom induced victims who could lose it any minute."

"If your not going to let the boy go then someone else will have to," Lynn states, ignoring what I said, very probably trying to ignore the fact that I'm right.

"Here Katniss, take Gale," Peeta says, handing Gale over to me.

"Why?" I ask as I set him down on the ground but keep a hold of his hand.

"If Lynn isn't afraid of the venom then she won't mind taking me will she?" Peeta asks me.

"What?!" I gasp. "You can't go!"

"What do you say Lynn?" Peeta asks, purposely ignoring me.

"Fine by me," Lynn replies, a slight hint of nervousness in her tone of voice.

"Mr. Mellark you can't go!" Kaliana protests, going over to stand beside me, her voice etched with worry and concern.

"Don't worry about me Kaliana, you just make sure you look after the little one your carrying there," Peeta replies with a slight smile. Kaliana flushes a bit and wraps her arms round her stomach again. "Haven't had an episode in a while Lynn. Anything could trigger one," he teases. Lynn glares but keeps her fear hidden.

"Fine, come with me Mr. Mellark," she says, gesturing to the door.

Peeta nods and turns to me. "I'll be fine Katniss, I promsie." He kisses me on the nose and ruffles Gale's hair before leaving the cell with Lynn in suit. The injured peacekeeper gets to his feet and leaves too. The door slides shut.

"Mum, will dad be OK?" Gale asks, sniffling a bit.

I kneel down to be eye level with him and do my best to smile. "Daddy will be fine Gale," I answer. "I promise."

I hate lying to my son. But sometimes it's just nesscary.

**A/N: OK, I need help. I've made it so complicated that I've even confused myself. Would President Snow be Lynn's father? Or is it Grandfather? I've made the relation between them so complicated that I can't figure it out. I said granddaughter at the start but then I think I went on a completely different track when Cat was talking with Primrose on the beach. Can anyone figure it out?**

**Anyway, other than that, what did you think? Would you like more Katniss POV in the Capitol? Don't worry, there would definetly still be Primrose POV as she's the main character of the story but if you said yes to the alternating POV then it would probably go a chapter for Primrose, the next Katniss, the one after Primrose, the next Katniss. You get me? What do you think?**


	46. Selfish

**A/N: Sorry I was a bit late with this update, I've been very busy. lol, two early updates then a late one! :D**

Chapter Forty Six-Selfish

I jump to my feet and run to the basement door, flinging it open and running into the living room. I look around for something to throw, hit, smash, _anything,_ but I'm so angry and scared I can't think straight. Instead I yank the knife off my ankle and start digging it into a pilliow, sending feathers and fluff everywhere. I don't register that I'm screaming until my throat starts to hurt. Tears fall down my cheeks by the bucketloads as I throw the pillow off my knife and dig it into another one that sits close by.

My parents and Gale, stuck in the clutches of President Lynn along with my two best friends, my finace and my best friend's unborn baby. This isn't happening. I'm going to wake up soon, wait you see, I'm going to wait up and I'll be at home, with my family, just having a nightmare.

"This. Isn't. HAPPENING!" I scream as I destroy more and more pillows.

"Prim!" I vaguely hear Zeb shout behind me. "Stop it!"

"NO! IT'S NOT HAPPENING!" I scream. "IT'S NOT HAPPENING! IT'S NOT!"

Strong yet weak arms suddenly wrap around me, preventing me from stabbing the cushions anymore. "Prim, stop it!" Zeb shouts.

"NO!" I screech, struggling to get free. I dig my knife into something that isn't a pillow and I scream out in pain as blood starts to slowly trickle down my thigh.

"Prim!" Zeb exclaims as he notices the knife lodged in my flesh.

"It's a dream Zeb! A stinking dream! If I wake myself up it'll all be OK!" I cry as I slide down to the ground, Zeb's arms still around me. "It's not fair! It's all going to go away Zeb! It has too!"

"I'm sorry Prim, I really am," Zeb murmers as I sob.

"Shut up! Your lying!" I shout, trying to free myself off him so I can stab something to let out the anger and anguish but he's having none of it.

"Prim please, calm down. The knife is still lodged in your thigh," Zeb whispers weakly. "I'm going to have to pull it out."

"No! Please! I'm going to wake up soon I can feel it!" I almost giggle hysterically.

"You haven't been sleeping properly Primrose," Zeb tries to reason. "Your not sound of mind."

"I'm gonna wake up, and I'll be with my mum, trying awfully to get my aim right on a bow and arrow as she tries hopelessly to teach me, and my dad as he cuddles me at night when I have my nightmares, and Gale, who'll climb into my arms at night in fear of never waking up again once he goes to sleep. Don't worry Zeb, you'll wake up too! You'll be at home with your family and Carrie! This is all just a dream!"

My struggles against him are getting weaker and weaker as I feel my mind turn to hysterical mush.

"Primrose, _please,_ stop it!" Zeb pleads, his hand finally finding purchase on the handle of my knife.

I start to scream even louder than before as he yanks it out of my thigh. The pain is shearing and excruciating as blood starts to pour out. Black dots appear in my vision along with multiple bursting stars and I feel myself subcuming to loss of conciousness. I vaguely register the door opening and Zeb calling to Beetra for help.

The last thing I remember is thick blood pooling between my fingers before everything goes black.

_"Mum, what do they do to you in the Capitol?" I ask my mum one night. We're sitting on the sofa with Gale draped across us both, fast asleep, his head on mum's lap and his feet resting in mine. Dad is on the backporch, painting, and I can just about see the multiple swirls of colours on the canvas he is working on through the patio doors._

_Mum's gaze flickers to dad momentarily before returning her gaze to me. Her smokey grey eyes showing the grief she's witnessed, and the pain. _

_"I don't know Primrose, I was never held there," she replies quietly, stroking Gale's hair as he snuggles further into the sofa cushion she's leaning on. "As prisoner I mean."_

_"Then how do you know it's dangerous? If you've never been? Can't we reason with them or something?" I ask._

_"Primrose, there's plently of people out there who are proof that the Capitol is dangerous," Mum explains._

_"Like who?" I ask curiously._

_Mum stays silent. Her gaze once again wanders to the back porch where dad sits. She seems to be thinking something over really carefully._

_"Penny for your thoughts?" I put forward._

_Mum stays quiet for another minute before finally speaking up. "I guess your old enough to know now."_

_"Know what?" I ask. I was fourteen. It didn't feel very old. I couldn't wait to be seventeen, that was supposed to be a fun age to be._

_"You know your Father's unwell right?" she asks me._

_"Yeah," I answer. "From Hijack right?"_

_"Do you know what Hijack is?"_

_"No, you said I'd find out when I was old-oh, right," I trail off. Was she going to tell me about Hijack? I'd finally know what's wrong with dad?_

_"Your father. . .is a prime example of what the Capitol do to you," Mum explains._

_"How?" I ask, wide eyed._

_"Remember that wasp's nest we came across in the woods that one time?" Mum asks. "When I was showing you how to shoot."_

_"Yeah, the tracker jacker nest, you said to never go near them because they were dangerous," I answer. "Like crazy dangerous."_

_"Yes," Mum answers. "If your stung by one then you'll get powerful hallucanations."_

_"Or you could die," I point out._

_"Yes, that too, but only if your badly stung," Mum corrects._

_"And? What's this got to do with Hijack?" I ask._

_"During the rebellion your father was taken by the Capitol. Prisonser I mean. Not a fancy day in the lapse of luxury," Mum explains. "And they hijacked him."_

_"What does that mean?" I ask._

_"Injected with tracker jacker venom while shown a certain photo, image or footage, to make the image distorted into something it's not. Your father was convinced that I was a mutt by being shown footage of our Hunger Games while being injected with the venom," Mum explains, staring at dad through the patio doors._

_"But. . .why?" I ask, confused. "Why do it to him?"_

_"Because they knew it would hurt me," Mum replies quietly._

_"Clip the mockinjay's wings as it were," I mumble._

_"Yes, as it were," Mum confirms. _

_"Then shouldn't he be OK now? He doesn't believe your a mutt now," I question with a frown._

_"At times he does sweetheart. And it's hard, it's why we need to be careful round your father. What we say or do has to be thought through carefully or it could trigger an episode. Primrose, his episodes are dangerous," Mum explains. "I don't like neither you nor Gale around when they happen. I just don't like it."_

_"What would happen if we ever got taken to the Capitol?" I ask. "I mean, we're not completely immune to danger. Plus, President Snow has descendants. . ."_

_"Ssssh!" Mum hisses. "Don't talk like that!"_

_"But what if it does happen mum? You can't prevent it! Have you not seen that blonde woman on the t.v? She looks pure evil and I don't trust her," I say. "What if she brought the-"_

_Mum slaps a hand over my mouth. _

_"Hunger Games Back," I say, my mouth muffled through her hand._

_"If the Hunger Games come back then I don't know what will happen." I can tell from her expression that she does know but won't say._

_"What if she takes us to the Capitol mum?" I whisper as she removes her hand. "What would happen dad then?"_

_"I don't know Primrose. I really don't. I doubt he could handle it. Thankfully, that won't ever happen. We'll never have to go back," Mum says with a slight smile. "And you nor Gale will ever even have to set foot there."_

_"I don't know mum. . ."_

_"Primrose, please, believe me, we're safe," Mum smiles._

_The next day I witnessed an episode. Not a terrible one. A gentle one. The ones mum can control by whispering sweet nothings and keeping a hold of dad's hand, assuring him she's there and will always be there forever. I witnessed the ping pong game of assurance known as 'Real or not Real?' and I knew then. I knew that even if we didn't get taken into the Capitol, one thing was for sure._

_The Capitol will always be there to haunt us._

My eyes flutter open to reveal a grey ceiling that was probably white at one point but has greyed with age. I'm lying on a hard surface with a scratchy blanket covering me. My thigh aches. I gently reach down and prod it, realizing that it's heavily bandaged. Oh yeah, I stabbed myself. What happened me? I went mentally insane that's what happened. I try to look back on what happened in Beetra's sitting room but I can't remember anything. Well, I sorta can but it's fuzzy. I remember feathers and fluff and something restricting my arms but I can't remember what it was. My head throbs and my throat hurts.

I groan and turn my head to the side only to be startled by Beetra, who's sitting beside me on which I now realize is the floor of her basement.

"You OK kid?" she asks me.

"I'll survive," I answer roughly, my voice tough and ragged. It hurts to speak.

"You should stay lying down, help your leg. It's not ready to be walked on," Beetra says.

"OK," I whisper.

"Don't worry about the boy, I've given him his chemo, he should be OK," Beetra tells me.

"Who? Zeb? Was he not OK at one point?" I ask in a panic.

"Just tired. Not in best form today, what with what happened with Kaliana and your friends," Beetra sighs.

Oh yeah, the Capitol has Kaliana too. God, how selfish I have probably seemed to Beetra and Zeb! Going on a rampage like that, only thinking about myself. I just couldn't bear the thought of what they could be doing to my family and Maurice.

"Where is he?" I croak.

"He's sleeping over there sweetheart."

I push myself off the ground, contrary to Beetra's instructions, and sit up straight. My eyes scan the basement and I see Zeb lying on the ground, fast asleep, with a similar blanket covering him.

"We're leaving for District 7 tomorrow," I tell Beetra, still staring at Zeb's sleeping figure. "They'll be worshipping mother nature soon. We'll convince them to uprise then."

"I see," Beetra replies.

"We'll need to find shelter somewhere there but we'll figure something out," I continue. "It can't be that hard."

"What about Johanna Mason?" Beetra asks me.

"Huh?"

Johanna Mason was from District 7. She was my parents ally in the Quarter Quell. She's quite sarcastic and can be quiet mean sometimes but she's smart and strong. I don't understand why Beetra would mention her though. She doesn't live in her District anymore. As far as I know anyway. . .

"She's here. In District 5. As far as I know she still has a home in District 7 though. If you go to her she might be happy to help. Especially with how your mother helped her during the rebellion," Beetra explains.

"Really?" I ask.

"It's just a suggestion," she replies.

Johanna Mason. Maybe Beetra's right. She might help. Hmm. . .yes, I think she would help.

"Where does she live?" I ask.

"In the Merchant part of town," Beetra informs me. "It's not far. A ten minute walk really."

"Right," I answer, clambouring to my feet.

"You need to rest Primrose!" Beetra exclaims as I wince from the pain in my thigh.

"No, I need to go see Johanna," I say, limping painfully towards the door.

"But Primrose!" Beetra calls. I turn round to look at her, an indication to hurry up and continue. "Johanna Mason doesn't really talk to anyone. I only suggested her, I didn't think you'd go."

"Well, she's going to talk to me!" I reply. "Don't wake Zeb up, he needs to sleep."

And with that, I'm gone.

**A/N: Yes, I wanted to bring Johanna into it. I like Johanna, she was fiesty :)**

**Read and review please! I've decided to now give out virtual cupcakes for reviewers instead of cyber hugs! Everyone needs a change right? :D**


	47. I'm not a child anymore

**A/N: I've decided that since I'm only working on this story now I will update everytime I finish a chapter. It makes it easier to do it whenever then stressing over meeting a deadline.**

**Ok, this chapter is in Gale's POV in the Capitol. Where everything finally gets explained to him.**

**I'm trying out writing 'Mom' instead of 'Mum' for all you Americans out there but it's really hard! LoL! :D**

Chapter Forty Seven-I'am not a child anymore

They took dad away over four hours ago now. I can't help but feel it's my fault. If I hadn't of been such a baby then he wouldn't have gotten taken instead of myself. Mom won't let go of me, won't let me see anything. I wish she would. I'm not a child anymore, I can handle myself. I'm twelve years old now. Why can't she see that? I wish I could prove it to her somehow. . .

So that's why when dad returns, beaten and bleeding, I swallow my fear and wriggle out mum's arms, despite her protests.

"Mom, I need to help him," I plead as she grips my wrist with an iron grip, her grey eyes full of fear and concern. "Please."

Mom's eyes remind me of Primrose. My sister who has risked everything for us, to keep us safe. It feels like all of her work and sacrafice was for nothing because now we're here, in the Capitol, against everything she worked for.

I know my family hide things from me everyday. Important things. Things I should know. Primrose knows. I know she knows. And yet I don't? Is it because I'm too young? Because they don't believe I can handle it? I think I deserve to be told. But then again, people still seem to consider me as the seven year old who thought my sister was a fairy. I mean, seriously, you have one slip up as a kid and you never get to live it down.

I wrench my hand from mom's grip as gently as I can and stuff it into my pocket. Yes, there's still moss in there. I always carry moss with me because it can be used as a bandage with anestipitic and I know, since the rebellion officialy began, that there could be many injured people in the most unlikely situations. Apparently, way back in the years of a World War in the 19th century, soliders carried moss to treat bullet wounds. They tied them together with a pencil and kept them in their pocket, which they'd then use to write home for if they didn't make it back.

I decided I wanted to become a doctor when I learnt about Auntie Prim. She learnt about medicine and died on the field. I want to heal people and make them better. Zeb, for example, was good practice. I like Zeb. He and Prim are really funny together. So I'm determined to get rid of the Cancer for him. Cat sent me back feedback on how my natural chemotherapy was working well so I kept sending more over to them. But now we're here. . .it's going to run out.

There's no way Lynn will let me send more chemotherapy over. I don't want Primrose's best friend to die. I really don't. But there's nothing I'll be able to do to prevent it unless we escape. And escape, at the moment, seems impossible.

"Here dad," I approached my injured father and pressed some moss against a gash that runs up his arm. "This'll help." I wipe the blood off his skin and examine the wound. "Why'd they do this to you?"

He doesn't reply. He just stays quiet. I give him a hard look. Well, as hard as I can manage in this situation. He still doesn't answer me. I sigh and treat the other injuries he seems to have obtained. I hate to see my parents in pain. Mom suffers nightmares all the time, she screams bloody murder nearly every night. I can go a whole day without seeing my dad because he's having what Primrose always called, 'A problem.' A problem in which was never explained to me.

"Mom, tell me why they're doing this to him, we, us," I demand, looking round to look my mother in the eye. "Tell me right now." She simply shakes her head at me.

"Mom, please," I plead. "I need to know!"

When she doesn't respond I decide to turn to Maurice. "You then. You'd know."

"Gale, I can't. It's not my place," Maurice says to me.

"I deserve to know," I insist.

"I'll tell him," Cat says, startling me a bit since my concentration was centered on getting the truth out of Maurice.

"No Cat!" Mom snaps.

"He's right, he deserves to know!" Cat snaps back. "He's not a child! Look at him! He's nearly the height of Primrose!"

"It's not your place Cat!" Kaliana moans, turning away from the wall. She had been sleeping, prior to Mom's advice, but I think the near shouting had woken her up.

"I don't care! Gale deserves to know," Cat hisses.

"He'll find out in his own time!" Mom replies.

"Gale, son," I turn round to face my father and give him a, 'Please, continue,' look. "You have to trust us when we tell you that you will find out someday. Your more that ready to find out about it. I know you are. I trust you. It's just your mother and I aren't ready to relive it all."

"Fine," I reply. "How about I go with Lynn? She'll tell me. I know she will. She'd be more than happy to and you wouldn't have to relive it." I go over to the steel door and pound my fist on it. "How about it Lynn huh?!" I shout.

"Gale!" Mom snaps. "Stop it!"

"Not until you tell me!" I snap back. "I want to know what the hell is going on! PLEASE! Come get me Lynn! I'm ready to go!"

A hand presses over my mouth and I feel my legs get lifted off the ground. "Shut up Gale!" Maurice hisses into my ear. I growl at him and bite his hand. "AH! He bit me!"

"Gale!" Mom gasps in horror. Maurice puts me back down and shakes the hand I bit in the air, wincing in pain.

"Gale, come here," Cat says, motioning me over with her hand.

I go over to Cat as she asked. "What?" I ask her.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age," Cat muses, more to herself than to me. "Brave and clever. . .but will still cling onto your mother when your scared."

"And?" I question.

"Look Gale, there's plently of things in the world we don't know. Things we want to understand but aren't . . .ready to fully understand yet," Cat explains.

"But don't I have a right to know?" I ask her.

"Absoloutly Gale. 100%. But some things have to wait."

"We're trapped in the blooming Capitol Cat! How much longer do I have to wait?" I exclaim in annoyance. "I'm twelve Cat! Twelve years of not knowing what the hell is going on!"

"It's not my place to tell you anything Gale," Cat sighs. "I'm sorry. Your parents will tell you when they're ready."

"When will that be though?!"

"I don't know Gale."

"Mom, when is that going to be, huh?" I snap, spinning on my heel to face Mom again.

"I don't know sweetheart," Mom sighs.

"Primrose knows," I state as a fact. Mom winces slightly. "She does know doesn't she?"

"Yes, she knows," Dad answers.

"Why? Why can she know and I can't?" I ask, tears threatening to fall._ No Gale, that won't prove your any less of a child!_

"We're trying to protect you Gale!" Mom snaps.

"Then why can't you tell me? I have a right! Half my life, living in the dark, staying up half the night, wondering if your going to scream again," I snap, pointing at Mom. "Or when your going to disappear for half the day!" I say, pointing to dad.

Mom and Dad look at me sadly, not even bothering to answer.

"Even better!" I say, my voice rising. "Why did Primrose get so fat that time? WE BARELY GET TO EAT! HOW THE HELL DID SHE GET FAT?!"

"Gale, please, stop shouting!" Mom pleads.

"Why can't you tell me?!" I yell. "Fine, don't tell me about why we're here. Don't tell me about the screaming or the disappearing but please, I have a right to know about my own sister!"

"Gale-"

"Don't try and say to me that I'm too young to understand! Primrose is my sister! I want to know. Why did she get so fat?"

"Gale-"

"Why. Did. She. Get. So. Fat?" I ask, announciating each word carefully. Still, no-one answers. "Wait! You'll know!" I turn to Maurice. "Your going out with her! Why did she get so fat Maurice? I highly doubt that she'd been stuffing her face with raw animals in the woods so please, pray tell, why did she get so fat?"

"You were only ten years old Gale," Maurice murmers.

"I remember what age I was very well Maurice," I say coldly. I don't mean to be so mean but I'm sick of things being hidden from me.

"You wouldn't of understood why. . ."

"Why what?"

"Or even better how. . ."

"How _what?!"_

"Ok Gale, wanna know the truth, your an uncle!" Maurice blurts out.

"Hold on, what?"

"Primrose wasn't fat sweetie, she was pregnant," Mom whispers.

"And who was the father?" I ask. I'm not an idiot, I know how pregnancy works, so why didn't they tell me?

"I was," Maurice replies.

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"He was a stillborn Gale," Maurice answers.

"He's. . .dead?" I whisper.

"Yes."

"What was he called?"

"Finnick Jr."

"So. . .I'm an uncle?"

"He's dead Gale."

"And? I'm still an uncle! Why didn't you tell me! I should have been there for you both! And you didn't tell me!"

"You were ten!" Mom exclaims.

"So? I still could have been there for them! What else have you been hiding then? A twin brother I don't know about? Or maybe an evil cousin who plots to take over the world?"

"We shouldn't have hid it all from you," Mom admits.

"Then why did you?" I ask.

"We didn't want to hurt you," Dad answers.

"You won't. Tell me everything," I demand.

"Where do you want to start?"

"From the very beginning."

Dad nods and I go and sit in front of him. "It's a long story Gale," he warns.

"I've got time," I reply.

"Ok son," Dad sighs. Mum shuffles over to us and dad wraps his arm round her. Maurice sits beside me and ruffles my hair like he used to do when I was five. Kaliana crawls over to us and sits on my other side while Cat stands over us all.

"On the occasion of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. . . ."

**A/N: Well, there it is! :D**

**Warning: **_**Echos Of the Descendant**_** is going to an end. Fear not though **_**mon frere**_** the sequeal shall be released after Christmas. It will be following the same storyline but there's going to be a GIANT cliffhanger that's going to make you want to come back to read the sequeal!**

**Reviewers get Virtual Cupcakes! :D :D**


	48. Johanna Mason

**A/N: OK, so there's only this chapter, the next chapter and then the epilogue left of **_**Echos Of The Descendant**_** so I've decided to post them over the next few days, the epilogue being posted on Friday :)**

**Thank you to my good friend DoctorwhotailaandtheOlympain s for their continued support and for the information she gave me a while back about Greek Gods :)**

Chapter Forty Eight-Johanna Mason

"Johanna Mason? She lives up past the healer's domain, take a left by the butchers, take a right and then up through the giant gates," a merchant man instructs me once I reach the Merchant part of town.

"Thank you," I say, pulling the scarf I grabbed on my way out from Beetra's house up a bit to cover my face a bit more.

"Good luck trying to get her to answer the door," The man scoffs. "Hard as nails that woman is."

"Thank you but I think she'll answer for me," I reply, skirting round him and walking off.

I follow the man's instructions until I reach the giant gates. The black paint is chipped to show the cold grey metal and they creak as I push through them. The house is further up the path. It's a black house, the kind you'd expect to see in horror movies, and has two black gargoyles that sit on pillars, who seem to glare at me as I climb the steps that lead to her door.

I knock as loudly as I can with the giant door knocker placed in the middle of the wooden door and wait. When there's no reply I sigh and knock again.

"If I hear another lock I'm going to beat the crap out of you!" A voice inside shouts. It's Johanna. I can recognize her through her tone of voice.

I'm not scared of her so I knock again.

"I'M NOT LYING I WILL KILL YOU!" Johanna screeches.

"It's me! Primrose Mellark!" I hiss, hoping she'll have heard of me. I crouch before the door and open the letterbox. "I'm Katniss and Peeta's daughter!"

The door flies open and I fall forward and land on my face. I push my upper body off the ground and look up. Standing before me is indeed Johanna Mason. Her short hair is messy and sticking up at all angles and her brown eyes are staring into my soul in an angry glare.

"How do I know your Primrose Mellark?" she snaps at me.

I sit up and pull the scarf down off my face. "Because I can answer anything you want. Go ahead. Ask something about my parents that no-one else but me would know."

"What's their son's name?"

"Gale," I answer, standing up. "Harder."

"I'm only getting started," Johanna scoffs. "Mother's maiden name."

"Everdeen. Harder."

"Father's brother's names."

"I was never told about my uncles until recently," I answer. "I'm sure you know that from what Meladina told me in the Games."

"Mother's sister."

"Primrose."

"Mother's sister's cat."

"Buttercup."

"Goat."

"Lady."

"Mother's allies in Games?"

"Rue from district 11 and Peeta Mellark."

"Father's Allies?"

"Pretend alliance with Careers and Katniss Everdeen."

"Your allies in Games?"

"Zeb Walls, Kaliana Zachary, Zara Wellington, Meladina Dealany, Harrie Kelli, Carrie Walls, and Reyna Zachary."

"State districts."

"10, 5, 11, 7, 5, 10 and 5," I answer.

"Why is your brother named Gale?"

"Because my mother's best friend was Gale Harthorwe."

"Where is he now?"

"In one of the career districts."

"Which one?"

"Two."

"What is the Mells Theory?"

"The belief that Zeb and I can defeat the Capitol together because of my parent's Hunger Game History and Zeb's family Rebellion history."

"Who am I?"

"Johanna Mason."

"District?"

"7."

"Nickname for people?"

"Brainless."

"Why do you think I'll help you?"

"Becuase you allied yourself with my parents in the Quarter Quell and you were captured by the Capitol with my father," I pause for moment and then decide to add something I heard during one of his episodes, "You know what his screams sound like."

"So your Katniss and Peeta's kid then?"

"Yes."

"How do I know your not just a very knowledgeable spy?"

I sigh and shake my head. "You don't. But look closely at me."

We both move our heads closer to each other, so close our noses almost touch. Johanna's eyes dart around my face rapidly, taking in every inch. After what feels like a lifetime trying to stay still Johanna breaks into a grin.

"Yes, your definetly their daughter," she smiles. "Your the spit of them both."

I stand up straight again and smile. "Thank you."

"Come in," Johanna says, moving out of the way of the doorway.

I nod and go inside her house. I follow her into the sitting room and sit down on the sofa when she tells me to sit. "What can I do for you Primrose?" she asks, sitting across from me.

"I need your help," I answer. "In the rebellion."

"Another rebellion?" Johanna scoffs, leaning back on the sofa cushions. "I've got half a mind to start a tally chart on how many rebellions this country will have!"

"Please," I say. "I mean it."

"What do you need my help for?"

"We're going into District 7 for that celebration you guys have. Worshipping mother nature or something?"

"_Dea arborum_?" Johanna asks. "Yes. I know the celebration."

"_Dea Arborum_?" I frown.

"It's Latin for Goddess of The Trees," Johanna explains. "It can also be called _Deus Hephaestum_ which is Latin for the Greek God Hephaestus. He's the God of Fire and Building."

"What's fire and building got to do with District 7 and mother nature?" I ask.

"Fires are very important over in District 7. It's an annual tradition to worship the god of fire. Plus, we are constantly building, everyday, building, building, building," Johanna explains.

"We're not Greek," I point out.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean we can't worship Hephaestus," Johanna replies. "How will the celebration help the rebellion?"

"Zeb and I have been going round the districts convincing the districts to uprise," I answer her.

"How many have you convinced so far?"

"District 4," I answer.

"I see," Johanna muses, more serious than I thought she'd be, from what she seemed like on the Quater Quell tape anyway. "How can I help?"

"We need shelter. We have nowhere to go," I reply. "Beetra suggested I come to you."

"Who's Beetra?" Johanna frowns.

"Teatry. Beetra Teatry," I reply. "She was the mother of Harrie Kelli. She went into the Hunger Games in replacement of Kaliana Zachary for this district."

"Two different second names?"

"Her parents are divorced," I answer. "Beetra changed her name back, Harrie kept it the same."

"I see."

"So will you help us?"

"I don't know . . ."

"Would it help if I told you Finnick was alive? You two seemed like good friends during the Quell. . ."

"Finnick's alive?" Johanna gasps.

"Yeah," I answer, nodding my head. "A lot more lives could be saved too if we work to get the districts to uprise."

"And his son?" Johanna asks. "Last time I heard, Annie was pregnant.

"Uh, yeah, their son is Maurice Odair," I reply. "But he's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"The Capitol has taken him. With my mom, dad, Gale, and my two allies Kaliana and Cat."

"Kaliana's alive too? The Capitol said she was dead!"

"The Capitol says a lot of things," I say back to her.

"Come on then," Johanna says, getting up and heading towards the door.

"Your going to help us?" I ask, astonished that it was that easy.

"Of course I'm going to help you brainless! I was always going to help you!" Johanna grins. "Ever since I figured out that you _were_ Katniss and Peeta's daughter."

"Oh. . .OK!" I jump over the back of the sofa and follow her out the door. "We need to go get Zeb first though."

**A/N: There it is! I can't believe I only have two more chapters now to write! I'm so sad! **_**Echos of the Descendant**_** was the first story I ever posted on and now it's near over!**

**I'll be beginnning to write the sequeal soon and it'll be released around boxing day new year's eve time. It'll get a bit supernatural too as I've always wanted to write a bit of magic. **

**Reviewers get vitural cupcakes! :D**


	49. The beginning of the End

**A/N: Only the epilogue left after this. . .I can't believe it's near over. . . :'(**

Chapter Forty-Nine-The Beginning of the End

I fiddle with my hands nervously as Johanna and I head down the road back towards Beetra's house. People turn to stare and whisper as we walk past them in the street.

_Is that Johanna Mason?_

_She's out of her house!_

_Who's that with her?_

I pull the scarf up my face again and duck my head. Johanna walks beside me with confidence, as if she hasn't been a recluse for years now. She's told me to try and not think about my family, but it's hard. I don't know what's happening to them, Maurice and Kaliana in the Capitol as we speak.

_"Hold on dad! Not every one can do this like you can!" _My voice echos through my skull.

_"Look Primrose, it's easy! Gale can do it!" Dad laughs. I look down at the mess that's supposed to be bread dough stuck to my hands and then to Gale's perfectly shaped dough that's already in the tin. _

_"Dad this isn't fair!" I complain. "Your helping him!"_

_"Me?" Dad mock gasps. "I'd never."_

_"Gale, is he helping you?" I ask Gale. _

_Gale grins and nods his head happily. "Yeah Prim! He helped me shape it and put it in the tin thing!"_

_"That's for selling me out buddy!" Dad says, pretending to be hurt._

_"Dad, you weren't exactly being discreet," Gale sniggers in reply._

_"I knew it!" I declare, pointing my doughy finger at him, "Tratior!"_

_Dad laughs at my accusation while Gale smiles smugly at me. Mom comes into the room while Dad's still laughing and lightly whacks him round the head. "Stop it Peeta," she chuckles. _

_"Yeah, because she takes after you," Dad says as he composes himself. "No patience and a temper with a short fuse."_

_"Oh real mature," I sneer, shaking my hand to rid it of the dough. "Is this even nessacary in life?"_

_"Making bread?" Mom says. "Oh yeah, it's always good to know how to make bread."_

_"Why though?" I whine, scooting out of the way as dad puts Gale's bread into the oven._

_"It's just a good skill," Dad replies. "It helps."_

_"Yeah, well, I'm not skillfull," I conclude, dusting my apron. "I'll just be talentless thank you very much."_

_Gale hops onto the table and frowns at me. "Your not talentless Primrose," he says. "You just haven't found what you can do well yet."_

_"Says you Doctor. Mellark," I chuckle, ruffling his hair. He immediately tries to fix it._

_Mom wraps her arm round me and tucks a stray hair behind my ear. "You'll find your talent someday Primrose, I can guarantee it."_

_"You can?"_

_"Definetly. Come here." _

_Mom pulls me into a warm hug. Gale, feeling left out, wraps his arms round the both of us. Dad smiles and joins in the group hug too._

_This was the last happy family moment we ever had._

I shake my head, trying to get the memories to go away into the back of my brain as they're not wanted right now. I still haven't figured out my talent yet, although I haven't given up trying.

Gale working on becoming a doctor was great. Mom and dad were so proud of him when he announced it, and he is doing well. I mean, his chemotherapy has been working hasn't it? I mean, Zeb's been so much better since we started giving him it. Sadly, Gale can't work on improving it while he's in the Capitol. . . can't work on. . .it. . .

"He can't work on it!" I exclaim out loud. Johanna stops beside me and and frowns. "What?" she asks.

"Oh my god he can't work on it!"

"What can't who work on Primrose?" Johanna questions.

"Gale! He can't work on the chemotherapy if he's in the Capitol!" I exclaim.

"I think working on chemotherapy is the least of his worries at the moment," Johanna replies with a dismissive wave.

"No, you don't get it!" I insist. "Zeb needs it!"

"Needs what?"

"The CHEMOTHERAPY!"

"Why?!" Johanna exclaims.

"To bake a cake," I sigh sarcastically. "Why do you think he freaking needs it! He has Cancer! If Gale can't send it Zeb's going to die!"

"Hold on," Johanna orders, "Calm down!"

"I can't! Zeb's going to die!"

"We don't know that now Primrose, calm down, deep breaths," Johanna insists. "How does the chemo work?"

"With the severity of Zeb's illness and the uncertainty of Gale's work, he has to be given some at least once every four hours. Even if he misses one dose he's in danger of dying!"

"When was his last intake?" Johanna asks, still calm as ever.

"I don't know! About an hour before I set off to see you," I answer. "How long have we been here?"

"Two hours," Johanna replies.

"And it took me half an hour to get to you . . .that's three and a half hours!"

"Shit!" Johanna murmers, turning round and running down the road.

"Johanna wait!" I shout, stumbling after her. My heart starts beating a million miles an hour as my feet pound the dusty ground of the streets of District 5.

I trip on the steps of Beetra's house, skinning my knee and making it bleed. Johanna bursts into the house, immediately shouting for Zeb. She disappears off to the left hand side, where the basement door sits. I clambour to my feet and run into the house, slamming the door behind me.

"Primrose don't come in here!" Johanna shouts up the basement steps.

"Why?!" I shout back, going to the top of the stairs.

"Just don't!" Beetra's voice floats up weakly.

I contemplate going down but decide against it. I turn round to move out of earshot when I trip over my own ankle and fall down the stairs.

The world tumbles round and round over and over again, making me feel sick, until it suddenly stops and I hit my head off the floor, making everything go out of focus.

"Get her out of her!" I vaguely hear Johanna tell Beetra.

"No!" I snap, rolling onto my side and trying to make sense of the blurry images before me. I push myself into a sitting position and shake my head, focusing my vision.

I make out Beetra first. She's biting her nails and looking at something in deep worry. My eyes focus on Johanna next whose bent over. . .punching Zeb in the chest. "Wake up damn you!" I vaguely hear her shout.

"Zeb?" I whisper, crawling over to his prone body, lying in the exact same spot it was in when I left. Johanna stops punching him in the chest and covers his mouth with hers. My head still isn't clear enough to understand what's going on so I gently shake his arm. "Zeb, get up, we need to go," I whisper. "We need to go to District 7."

"Primrose, come with me," Beetra almost whimpers, grabbing my shoulders and trying to pull me up to stand.

"No," I protest, shaking her arms away. My hand is holding onto his upper arm in a death grip and that's when it hits me.

No pulse.

"Zeb," I whisper, leaning over and resting my head over where his heart is. No heart beat. . .nothing . . .

Just silence.

My eyesight slides out of focus again and I hear Johanna shouting and cursing over and over again, as if it's some new mantra, but she sounds far away. Miles away. I close my eyes tight, causing a few tears to fall down my cheeks, and stay where I'am. Holding on tight to him, wanting for his heart to start again, wanting for his chest to start moving again as he breathes, wanting for his pulse to beat. Something, anything.

But it doesn't happen.

And I'm left alone.

**A/N: No words can describe how much I cried when I wrote this. . . **


	50. Epilogue

**A/N: I'm too. . .sad. . .to. . . even. . . :(**

Epilogue

Zeb Walls

Loving Brother, Son and Friend

Died with honour on August 29th 3019

_Rest in Peace my dear friend_

"_Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire, I'm with those who favour fire.  
But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate,  
To say that destruction ice,  
is also great. . .  
and will suffice."_

_Robert Frost_

I sit by the grave and read the poem to the headstone, my spare hand never moving from resting ontop of the soil.

Zeb's heart gave out ten minutes before Johanna and I arrived. Beetra, not being a doctor and not knowing whether to call an ambulance or not in case it gave away Zeb and my's location to the peacekeepers, took a panic attack.

We travelled to District 10 the next day to bury him in his own district. It took us a week to get there, travelling in a truck Beetra leant to us, and I've been numb the whole time. I still can't believe it's true, even when I'm sitting here beside his grave. Zeb cannot have died of something as basic as heart failure. There has to be more to it. There's so much more he could have done. We could have done. Kaliana and him could have done.

His parents are dead. They died a month after Zeb and Carrie were reaped for the Hunger Games. They never got to see their son or daughter in the flesh again before they slowly gave in to the gripping hands of starvation.

"Zeb, you can hear me right?" I whisper to the soil as I finish reading the poem. "Course you can. You can't keep a good guy down right?" My fingers trace over the two arrows that are crossed together to form an 'X' that sit ontop of the headstone. "Your haven't really left me right?"

~xXx~

_"Nice outfit," I say, holding out my handful of sugar cubes to him._

_Zeb looks up at me and he looks completely confused at this kind gesture. He plucks a cube from my hand and pops it into his mouth and nods gratefully. "You OK?" I ask. His cheeks suck inwards as he sucks the cube and then puff back out again. "Not sure," he replies._

_"This is difficult for all of us," I admit, "But it must be difficult x40 for you." I pause for a moment. "Was that little girl your sister?"_

_"Yes," Zeb replys sadly. "Her name's Carrie." I nod and say, "I just want to let you know that I respect you for taking her place like my mom did for her sister. I just hope to god it won't be you and me at the end because all I can see is Carrie's face as she was pulled away from you and I don't want to have to cause that for the rest of her life." I throw another sugar cube into my mouth and sigh in irritation. Zeb smiles. "Thank you," he says._

_"No problem," I grin._

_"You really think this costume is OK?" he asks as if he doesn't believe me._

_"Oh yeah, it's lovely," I say sarcastically. By the look on his face I can tell he thinks I'm either mad or I have no sense of style. "You heard of sarcasm?" I ask._

_"What?"_

_"Never mind."_

~xXx~

_"I have!" I protested. "I cleared up the mess I made that implied we were lovers!" Zeb sighs heavily and I think again for a moment as the Capitol audience laughs at our scabble. "Which we're not!" _

_"Here's an idea!" Zeb declares. "How about you keep this," he presses my lips together with his thumb and finger, "closed."_

~xXx~

_"How'd you do that?" I ask him in disbelief._

_"I know my arrows," he replies._

~xXx~

_"Hey, cowboy!" Waness calls from down below._

_"What?" Zeb asks, seeming untainted by the name, 'cowboy.'_

_"How would you like to join the career pack?" Waness asks._

_"What? Why?" Zeb frowns._

_"That arrow thing was amazing," Nana says._

_"You caught one in your mouth!" Jamica puts in._

_"Your mouth?!" I exclaim, looking from the three arrows on the branch to Zeb, then back again. Zeb just shrugs._

_"Plus your kinda hot," Waness says. The other two nod in agreement. That's when I burst out laughing. "What? Him?!" I ask between laughs. "Your deranged!"_

_"Yeah, no thanks," Zeb says. "I'm going to stick with Primrose." _

~xXx~

_"Kaliana needs you to know. Wants you to know. Dead now. Can't tell you herself. Won't let me go. Won't let me go."_

_"Tell me what?"_

_"She loves you Zeb. Only dated three days. Loved you since day one. Love at first sight. Ever since you met. Always has, still does, and always will," Harrie says hysterically._

_"Tell her I love her too. Always has, still does, always will."_

~xXx~

_"Carrie would have two birthdays every year. Her offical one and the pretend birthdays I held for her every year. It was just a bit of fun. I would chose a random day every year to make her pretend birthday and I would treat the day like it was her proper birthday. You know, homemade cards, gifts, I'd ask mum if she could have a few friends over. It wouldn't be much but she loved it all the same," he says to me. "Then, last year I woke up one day and she was sitting on her bed with a small package in her hands. I asked her what it was and she told me it was about time I had a pretend birthday. The small package she had was this," he pulls a small necklace out from under his shirt. Was he always wearing that? "It's my district token. It has a photo of mum, dad and Carrie in it." He opens it up and I scoot over beside him and look at the photos._

_He's his mom's double. He has her ginger hair and her green eyes. His dad then is a double of Carrie. Blonde hair and brown eyes. Carrie's laughing and his parent's are beaming. He snaps the necklace closed again and puts it back under his shirt._

~xXx~

_"Zeb?" I ask. "Zeb? Talk to me."_

_"No," Zeb mumbles._

_"Zeb, please talk to me. Is this chemo the sort of chemo I think it is?" I ask._

_"Depends on what you think it is," Zeb replies through the sheets._

_"Do you. . like. . .um. . ." I bite my lip, trying to think of a right way to put it._

_"Have cancer?" He peers out through the top of the covers. "It's Ok to say it you know."_

_"Well, do you?" I ask._

_"Yes."_

_Oh my god. "Wh-what type?"_

_"Lung," he replies. "Youngest recorded case in the last century."_

_"Oh. . .how long?" I ask._

_"A good bit now. They wouldn't give me proper chemo before the games as, obviously, I'd lose my hair and apperance is everything to the Capitol."_

_"Your gonna lose your hair?" I ask._

_"Yes, I will."_

_"Oh Zeb." I bring my drip round the side of the bed and go over to him. I pull the quilt down and give him a big hug. "Zeb, we really need to stop with the secrets, yeah?"_

_"I couldn't think of a time to say it," Zeb shrugs. "It's not like I could go, 'Oh, I know I've got blood poisoning and, hey Primrose, did you know I have lung cancer?'"_

_"I guess so," I say back._

_"It's nothing to worry about though," Zeb assures, sitting up right._

_"What? Nothing to worry about? Your getting Chemo Zeb. It must be serious," I reply._

_"Primrose, I'm fine. I've never let the cancer stop me. I could work fine with it, I can shoot fine with it, I'm fine, believe me."_

~xXx~

_"Tell me about when you first fell for him," I tell her._

_"Um, well, you know the way he did extra practice for his archery?" Kaliana asks. I nod. "Well, I went down to brush up on my weapon skills a bit since my overrated movements always made me nearly kill someone and I jumped when I saw him there too. He didn't see me, obviously, he had his back to me but I sorta just stood and watched him shoot arrows for a bit. It's nothing to do with his body. People always ask me that. 'Is it because he's ripped' blah, blah, blah, well no, it isn't. It's because he's beautiful. The smile, the firey red hair, the cute button nose, and his personality matches. I love him. And I've known that since then."_

_"Then there you go! Love at first sight!" I declare._

_"But how are we-"_

_"Kaliana Zachary, do you love Zeb Walls?" I demand._

_"With everything I'm worth," Kaliana replies._

_"Will you do everything in your power to get him out of the Capitol?" I ask._

_"Of course I will," Kaliana answers._

_"Do you want to be with him for the rest of your life?" I ask._

_"More than anything," Kaliana replies._

_"Then nothing else matters," I answer._

~xXx~

_"They're going to hurt it," he mumbles quietly once we've stopped crying._

_"Hurt what?" I manage to whisper._

_"They're going to hurt my baby," he whispers back. I nod in understandment. They're going to hurt both our true loves. Maurice is my baby just as much as Kaliana is Zeb's._

_"I know the feeling," I answer._

_"I'll never get to meet him," Zeb continues._

_"What?" I ask, confused._

_"My baby," Zeb replies._

_"You mean a _real_ baby?!" I exclaim._

_"Yes, I real baby," Zeb frowns. "What did you think I was talking about?"_

_"Kaliana!" I reply, completely flabberghasted._

_"What? No!" Zeb exclaims. "Kaliana's pregnant!"_

~xXx~

_"I'm gonna wake up, and I'll be with my mum, trying awfully to get my aim right on a bow and arrow as she tries hopelessly to teach me, and my dad as he cuddles me at night when I have my nightmares, and Gale, who'll climb into my arms at night in fear of never waking up again once he goes to sleep. Don't worry Zeb, you'll wake up too! You'll be at home with your family and Carrie! This is all just a dream!"_

_My struggles against him are getting weaker and weaker as I feel my mind turn to hysterical mush._

_"Primrose, _please,_ stop it!" Zeb pleads._

~xXx~

The last thing Zeb ever said to me was stop it. I was scaring him half to death and that's the last thing he ever said to me.

_"Primrose, I'm fine. I've never let the cancer stop me. I could work fine with it, I can shoot fine with it, I'm fine, believe me."_

That sentence has been bouncing through my brain for ages now. The true belief that Zeb was going to be OK was what I held onto and now it has been torn from me. Completely ripped from my grasp and torn to pieces.

"Your being so brave Primrose," Johanna whispers from behind me, making me jump since I was unaware of her presence.

"You have no idea what's happening in my head right now," I whisper back.

"Your remembering," Johanna says. "Everything."

"He can't be gone," I whimper.

Johanna crouches beside me and rests her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Primrose, he is."

I bite my lip to try and stop it quivering. It doesn't work. Johanna kneels beside me and wraps her arm round my shoulder. I turn my face into her chest to hide my face away.

He's not dead.

He's not dead.

He's not dead.

. . .

. . .

But he is.

I get up off the ground and start to walk away, leaving Johanna to sit at the grave. The grave I still can't acknowledge exists. I leave it all behind as I walk to the top of the hill in the district, where I can see Carrie playing with Kaleb in the grass with the animals, where I can see their parents smiling at them both, proud of their daughter and her best friend.

Then I see him in the distance. He's stroking a cow who I assume is the infamous Milky Way. His hair falling over his eyes and his lips turned up in a cute smile, content in watching his sister enjoying herself.

The Walls family are dead.

But I'll make sure their legacy lives on in everyone's hearts.

And as the sun begins to set over District 10 I buck my chin up and decide one thing.

There's no way I'm going to lose now. I'm going to win this war.

For Zeb.

**A/N: Well. . .that's it. . .it's over. . .**

**Until after Christmas that is. Keep an eye out for the sequeal guys.**

**And a big thank you to all my supporters.**

**From my first reviewer TheHungerGamesFan01,**

**To sitting. waiting .watching who never failed to give me the constructive criticism when it was duely needed,**

**To Skylar Pederson, who always has a question to ask,**

**To all my annoymous reviewers and readers who I never get to speak to!**

**But most of all, thank you to DoctorwhotailaandtheOlympian s, you never fail to make me smile every day Doc, even in my darkest times, (and you know I've had plenty!) you always know the right thing to say to make me laugh and you always support me when it's needed! Thank you my good friend :')**


End file.
